


Sometimes It All Just Falls Into Place

by Kaiyoz



Series: ...And James Makes Three [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Abortion mentioned, COULSON LIVES!, Child Endangerment (not by parents), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Mild Crossover, Team Dynamics, non-canon, some OOC?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-03-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 13:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiyoz/pseuds/Kaiyoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Tony have finally gotten together after dancing around each other for too long. Months into their relationship a woman Tony slept with reveals to him that she is pregnant and doesn't know what to do. Steve and Tony decide to take on parenting. </p><p>Read notes for further details...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There is a brief mention of abortion. 
> 
> Tony and Steve decide to take on parenting with the support of their friends, the Avengers. The story is wrapped in the Marvel Universe and characters from the comics will pop in and out. There are some mild mentions of a Marvel canonical story line but it's not noticeable and unimportant. Just fun. 
> 
> I apologize now. I have no Beta, all mistakes are mine and I'm sorry. I respond well to polite criticism.

Tony felt like he had been talking for days without going anywhere but Steve still continued to nod and appear interested so he forced himself to continue. “So, if you wanted to go…” Steve finally loosed a full grin, causing Tony’s words to fall apart in his mouth. 

“Sounds good, I think Coulson is into Big Band music and this would be a good time to get him out of the building.”

Tony’s stomach tightened disappointment. “Yes, thought so… Pepper. Talk to Pepper. Now I’ve got things to… build,” he said, gesturing at a worthless pile of scraps and wires. Steve didn’t appear to be able to tell the difference or care, smiling again before he took his leave. 

Steve Roger’s smile should be weaponized he thought vaguely. 

Tony grimaced as the door once more slid closed behind Steve’s back.

“What am I doing?” Tony groaned, chucking a much too large wrench across the room, sending a coffee mug and circuitry in all directions. Dummy rolled to fetch the wrench, while You rolled to sweep up the remains of the mug. 

“Sir, if I may?” JARVIS began. 

“No, you may not,” Tony replied. He flicked through a screen hanging over his workshop table. He unlocked the file marked as “Weather Report”, his pathetically super-secret file on Steve. 

“Jarvis, delete the big band idea,” he sighed at another failed idea. He was now batting zero for thirty-six. He’d tried thirty-six ways to ask Steve out. Thirty-six. He’d been brushed off, ignored, or laughed at thirty-six times but he still grimly clung on, hoping upon hopes that Steve was really as obtuse as he seemed. 

He knew in all honesty that Steve was just not interested, interested in him, in Tony Stark. He hadn’t changed his mind in the eight months since the Helicarrier. Sure, he had a higher opinion of Iron Man now but his opinion of the Stark reputation was as low as ever. He cursed Howard Stark once more. 

Tony brought up the other failed ideas. Making him dinner had turned into a fiasco as the Avengers seemed to show up the second food appeared. Plus, Steve had raised an eyebrow at the exorbitant idea of having a chef make dinner. It probably would’ve been more romantic if HE had made dinner, but how was he supposed to know that?

A long walk had turned into a paparazzi fueled run through Central Park. Movie Night had become a mission shoot down the steam punk robots trying to tear into Long Island. A baseball game? Steve had invited Clint, of all people. Coffee? Steve had been so daunted by the selection of coffees and loud music that they had left. Thirty-six different failures. 

He had never failed so many times in his life. 

Tony considered asking Pepper for her advice but he didn’t know how she would react, they had been broken up only a few months now. 

He took a sip of cold coffee, grimacing when he realized it was actually motor oil. 

~*~

Tony smiled broadly at the people gathered around him, he laughed too loud and smiled so wide he thought his teeth might fall out. Considering the impact the Iron Man had taken this afternoon it was a small miracle his teeth were all still there. The Avengers and the who’s who of New York had gathered to celebrate the first week of a New Year, but more importantly to connect, see, and be seen.

He glanced over at Steve standing what looked to be a million feet tall beside the governor of New York and various senators. Steve Rogers smiled and chatted with them like they were old army buddies, he was calm, cool, and collected. Surprising considering the man had nearly taken out the microwave this morning in an attempt to make oatmeal. 

He had to admit Captain America made quite the cutting figure in a tuxedo; he could’ve stepped straight out of a magazine. Still, despite the women hovering like flies, Steve hadn’t turned in their direction, not once. Appearing to be in deep conversation with the Congressmen and women beside him. 

And Tony was stuck with the celebrities, models, and those with more money and less brains. Bruce had managed to hide in the corner with the few intellectuals among the crowd, Clint had disappeared within minutes of dinner starting, claiming to be on security. Natasha was the only one willing to wander amongst the mindless drones looking to spend time with an Avenger. 

When Natasha suddenly appeared at his hip, requesting his time with a flirtatious comment about “Avengers talk”, he could’ve kissed her. The crowd around him released them like leeches. 

“You’re welcome,” Natasha said smugly, stepping into his arms and forcing him to hold her. 

“Mm,” he grunted trying to get a bead on Steve, following her as she led him around the dance floor.

She laughed like he had said something funny before murmuring back, “You need to relax your smile, just a little, it is starting to look plastic. People will start to notice soon.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said again, finally catching sight of Steve’s broad shoulders near the bar. 

Natasha followed his gaze and before he could say more they were finished dancing and walking towards the bar. 

“Speak with him,” Natasha encouraged before suddenly disappearing, her shock of red hair suddenly invisible in the sea of evening gowns and suits. 

Steve angled himself inviting Tony into their circle quietly. 

“Mr. Stark, or should I say Iron Man? A pleasure as always,” Senator What’s-Her-Face said, holding out her hand. He knew the senator had a name but what? 

“Tony, please, Senator. Or Man of Iron, I like the ring of that one. It’s got a certain je ne sais quoi, wouldn’t you say, Cap?” He ended in a grin, holding back just a bit to keep the plastic version from showing up. 

Steve laughed quietly, smiling down at the billionaire. 

“Or Doctor Stark, but I worry that makes me sound like a super villain… or a college professor, both equally boring.”

The crowd laughed. “How times have changed,” said Senator Brunette, appearing to reminisce. He really needed to start writing their names down, or at least try to do a picture match up. Maybe he could build Jarvis into a watch, scan and pop names up. He thought of the logistics and knew it was feasible. In the meantime he held up his phone subtly using Jarvis to scan and identify the faces around him. 

“Right, Tony?” Steve prompted, breaking him out of his tech induced stupor. 

“Yep,” he answered automatically, popping his lips on the ‘p’ sound. “Senator Hagen, how’s the family? Is there any oil left in the Gulf?”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Stark… Tony, plenty,” she laughed. 

“You should try the amuse bouche. My wife nearly crowed over them,” said another face, gesturing to the tray a nearby server was holding.

Tony shook his head, “No, thank you. I grabbed McDonald’s on the way in. They love it when I take the limo through the drive-thru.”

The crowd laughed again. He smiled at the idiots; they didn’t realize he was serious.

Steve made eye contact and smiled at their inside joke, he’d been in the car watching Clint try to swallow a double cheeseburger whole. 

~*~

As the evening wore on, the volume in the room seemed to increase, Dr. Banner had escaped early on, The Other Guy a prime excuse to get out of annoying crowded areas. Clint had never reappeared after his security check and judging by Agent Coulson’s silent lip movement they were speaking over their comms. Natasha had vanished, leaving only Steve and Tony. 

Tony was looking forward to the ride home, just the two of them, assuming Agent would want to take Clint with him when they disappeared. Presumably to the freezer where the agent lived, waiting in cold storage until his particular brand of bland efficiency was required. Maybe he lived in a dresser drawer or a chest at the foot of Fury’s bed? Creepy. 

The billionaire glanced around the room, trying to spot the wonder that was Captain America in the masses. 

“Have you seen Cap?” Tony asked, when he crossed paths with a senator that had been riding on Steve’s coattails most of the night. 

“The Captain? Yes, he left with Miss Nobel about thirty minutes ago. She was quite pleased, if I do say so myself. He’s quite a man,” the lady oozed. 

“Yes, he is,” Tony gritted out. Steve had left. With a woman. He kept his body relaxed by force alone but he could feel the glass in his hand beginning to crack. 

Tony scoped out the crowd with a new eye this time, he wanted tall and he wanted blonde, and he was going to get it, one way or another. 

~*~

The following morning he rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a thump. It occurred to him that this was not his bedroom, he was in the lab and the floor was not plush Persian carpeting but concrete. It hurt. Damn. His head swam and he begged Jarvis to lower the volume of the morning’s announcement. Pepper was not around anymore to, remove his visitors and he dreaded stumbling upstairs to ask her to leave. 

At the elevator, he sighed as he pressed the button up. “Jarvis, is… uh… she still in my room?”

“No, sir. The young lady left shortly after you went to the laboratory. She did not snoop and only took what she came with.”

Tony let out a sigh of relief, he entered his bedroom still with a bit of trepidation but nothing appeared to be amiss. It was quiet, the bed the only thing disturbed. She had been a law student, the daughter of well to do oil executive. By all standards, she should’ve been the ideal mate, smart, attractive, tall, and blonde. And yet, she didn’t even come close to filling in the void one Steven Rogers had made. 

“Sir, Captain Rogers sends his greetings and has asked I inform you that there are coffee, pancakes, and sausages in the kitchen. In that order.” Tony smirked, even when Rogers was killing him, he knew that coffee was the only priority Tony had in the morning. 

Tony sighed and found a reasonably clean pair of jeans to go downstairs in. 

“Morning,” Clint called from the counter, perched with a tray to hold pancakes flipped by Steve. 

Steve turned and gave him another heartbreaking grin. “How did you sleep?”

“Fan-freaking-tastic. Coffee,” Tony grumbled. 

“Someone’s moody,” Natasha smirked, her eyes with too much knowledge for Tony’s comfort. She peeled another razor thin slice of skin off the apple in her hand. 

Tony drank his coffee while it was too hot, the burn waking him up. 

“Have some pancakes with us,” Steve offered, carrying plates to the table. 

Clint and Steve piled their plates high with food, slathering butter and syrup. 

Agent Coulson stepped in, perfect timing as always. “Breakfast?” he questioned. He strode over and took a brief kiss from their resident archer. 

“Take a seat, Agent Coulson,” the Cap offered. 

“Thank you,” he took the seat next to Clint without hesitation. 

Always one for subtle, Tony broke in. “So what’s your deal?” he asked gesturing between the two of them. “Friends with bennies? Dating? Do you exchange on a higher plane? Is he sucking your blood, Barton? Say no, if I’m right.”

Clint rolled his eyes. “No.”

He turned accusatory eyes on the other agent. “Vampire. I knew it. That whole zombie thing smelled fishy from the get-go.”

“He’s not a zombie,” Natasha reminded him, an old and pointless argument. 

“We are dating, according to SHIELD regulations we are in a non-platonic but un-cohabitating relationship.” Coulson said, cutting into his pancakes. 

“That’s a lot of expensive words for what sounds like fooling around with the boss on company time,” Tony smirked. Barton’s knife embedded itself in the table just beyond his fingertips. “Of course, you know, keep love alive and all that,” he conceded. 

Agent Coulson nodded his head, “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Breakfast was a mostly silent affair for once. However, without Thor around most things felt a bit quieter. 

Steve insisted on doing the dishes by hand still, Tony wasn’t sure if it was because of nostalgia or if he was unsure of the dishwasher. Tony hopped up on the counter, scanning his tablet rapidly, hoping to find something to keep his mind occupied. 

“How was your night last night?” he asked, trying to be casual.

Steve nodded. “It was good, slept well.”

“Oh,” Tony said looking up. He raised his eyebrows and grinned a little. “I thought you and Ms. N were… well… not sleeping.” Steve did not appreciate it when he was “crude”. 

“What gave you that idea?” he looked mystified. “She showed me some art in another room. I thought you had left when I got back so I grabbed a cab home.”

Tony smiled when he referred to the mansion as home. Tony barely referred to it as home but he was happy so many of the others were beginning to settle in. The tower had been under construction when Dr. Banner had needed a place to live, leaving the mansion as home. When Steve had appeared a few weeks later in New York, he’d left him an open invitation. 

“Somebody mentioned that you had hooked up and were on your way out,” Tony muttered. He hoped that the senator had been wrong. 

“No, no ‘hooking up’.” Steve shrugged. “I wasn’t… she wasn’t what I was looking for.”

Tony nearly dropped the StarkPad in the dishwater, he knew he was trying and failing to act remote about it. “What were you looking for? Maybe I can find it on Amazon or eBay.”

Steve seemed to suddenly freeze. “Amazon is…” Tony began to explain.

“I know what the Internet stores are, the Google sends me there,” Steve sighed. “Can we talk?”

“I thought that was what we were doing now. Shit, was I hallucinating? Was I monologuing again?”

The blonde chuckled, low and deep. “No, nothing like that. I just meant, outside. Talk outside.” He pushed open the balcony door and stepped out. It was usually too windy to dine outside but it gave a great view of the backyard. 

“You asked what I was looking for…” Steve said, unusually shy. 

Tony flicked through his handheld computer trying to keep from making eye contact. 

“Tony, can you listen for a second,” Steve pleaded. 

The billionaire nodded his head. “Totally with you babe, lay it on me,” he responded, not looking up.

The computer disappeared, his fingers still flickering on the invisible tablet. “Eyes and ears, Tony.” 

Steve set the computer down very gently and sat at the chair next to Tony. “I want… well… I want… I’ve been trying to think of something but something is always coming up. You have so many things and people around you that I just can’t seem to get a minute. When I do you seem… I just need to know, that we could be more…”

Tony’s eyebrows were nearly in his hairline. “Cap, buddy, I’m not one to judge people on the sanity of their spiels but you are on quite a tear there. Can you just tell me?”

He huffed for a second before steel seemed to suddenly accumulate in his eye. The same look on his face that gave him the ability to order around the Hulk. “I want to spend time with you. Not as friends but as… maybe more than that. I’ve been trying to get a moment with you but it’s impossible. You don’t exactly wait in your front room, hoping I’ll call on you.” 

“Call on me? If I’m translating you right, that means a date. Is that what you’re saying? A date? With me? Iron Man? And Captain America?” Tony asked, his voice incredulous. 

“If you’re going to laugh, just do it,” Steve said, shuffling. 

Tony put his hand to his ear, seeming to strain to hear something. “Do you hear that? It’s my father. Turning over in his grave.”

“Sorry to waste your time,” Steve grumbled, standing and striding towards the door. 

“No,” Tony nearly screamed, launching himself at the door. He was only saved from a face plant by Steve’s strong arm around his waist, hoisting him up, his hands wrapped around the handle of the door. “I didn’t say no to a date. I was just shocked.”

“You. Me. Silt at 6:30,” Tony offered, thinking of the highest priced restaurant he knew. 

Steve set him down. “Back in my day, the one that did the asking got to plan the date. So how about you and me at 6:30?” Tony only nodded his head. “Dress casual,” Steve responded.

~*~

Steve kept up the bravado until he stepped into his room, waiting for the door to close fully behind him. Weeks of waiting to get Tony alone, weeks of listening to him hem and haw around interesting ideas, and weeks of mooning from afar. If Bucky were around he’d mention how obviously gone he was over this guy. Bucky would’ve had the guts to ask weeks ago though. Steve had never been this gone over a guy or girl back in the day. He’d been too bent on art and then the army. But he had finally gotten the date. Tony had said yes, or at least a reasonable similarity. 

Tony Stark had agreed to a date with him. He’d planned this out but now the date seemed more depressing and less exciting then it had a few months back. It had been a little thing; Tony had mentioned how he liked New York at night. 

~*~

Tony stood and paced across his living room before sitting down again, he hated waiting. It took up too much time and not enough at the same time. He’d had Jarvis remind him at 5:30 and again at 6 to be ready to go but in reality he’d been waiting to go at 5. He didn’t risk going to his workshop and sitting in grease. Then he would have to go upstairs and change, then he would be late. It was now 6:15 and it was still too much time. 

“Agent Barton for you, sir,” called his AI. The door to his room slid open and Barton came stomping in, letting out a low whistle. 

“Sweet digs, Tony,” the archer remarked. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “It looks like the rest of the place.”

“True, true,” he said, trying to be casual. “So… a date with Captain America?” 

“Please, don’t remind me.”

Clint grinned, “Nervous?” 

“Shut up, Barton.” 

“Let me see if my psychic powers are working today.” Clint made a face, squinting at Tony. “Yep, coming in loud and clear. You’re thinking Steve is way too good and wondering if Loki mindfucked him. You’re making contingencies in case someone shows up, Steve laughs at you, or it’s all one giant joke, even though you’re pretty sure Steve is too classy for that. And you’re wondering what everyone else is going to think to see you standing next to, what is admittedly, one of the few near perfect people in this world. That about it?”

Tony was a little stunned. While not word for word it was a fairly accurate approximation and those may have been the most words he’d ever heard out of Clint’s mouth, that was probably equal to all the words he’d ever said put together. 

“Coulson asked me out once too, Tony. You’re not the only guy that never could figure out why he was asked out. My advice, even if you don’t want it, is don’t be an ass, don’t try too hard, but try, and don’t get drunk.” Clint patted him awkwardly on the arm and left without another word. 

~*~ 

Steve cleared his throat as Tony approached, unsure of what to say. “How are you?” he asked after a moment, groaning at how awful he sounded.

“Good… I am good,” Tony answered slowly, sounding false even to Steve’s ears. “How are you?”

“Pretty good,” Steven answered, scuffing a shoe on the floor and staring at his feet. “So, shall we?” he asked gesturing to the elevator. 

Happy was waiting for them outside, as they slid in the car the silence was deafening. Tony was not known for silence, making the volume all the more apparent to him. 

After a moment, Steve shook himself. This was stupid, they were friends, why was this so awful? 

“This is stupid,” he said brashly. Looking at Tony, he noticed the stricken look on his face before his emotions shuttered closed. “No, not the date but how we are acting. We are friends, right? We’ve talked and gone to dinner and you even helped me buy shoes last week. Why are we making it so awkward?” 

“I don’t know,” Tony said after a moment, his face still closed. 

“Then I think we need to relax, just go with this and see how it goes.” He gave Tony a big grin, hoping the other man didn’t think he was a big dope. 

“You know,” Tony began, coming out of his stupor, “most people would judge the quality of the date by the end of the night kiss. What do you think?”

Steve nodded. “My mom said that when she met my dad, it was his kiss that set him apart, always made me gross out as a kid but I see where she was coming from now.”

Tony nodded, he leaned forward and before Steve could pull back they were kissing. And Steve nearly laughed at how good it really was, they seemed to fit perfectly. Their noses slanted together. He felt Tony’s body lean into his and couldn’t help but admire how fit Tony actually was. It was usually well hidden beneath jeans and loose t-shirts but feeling it pressed close was an eye opener. He pulled Tony in closer letting the brunette straddle his knee. 

The kiss lasted only a minute but the world outside them seemed to have changed suddenly. 

“Don’t know about you, but that was pretty good,” Tony answered breathlessly. 

“Yeah, it was swell,” Steve answered with a faint blush. 

“So we’re good? ... Great. Excellent. Awesome. Let’s get this party started,” Tony crowed to Happy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a brief mention of abortion.
> 
> Tony and Steve decide to take on parenting with the support of their friends, the Avengers. The story is wrapped in the Marvel Universe and characters from the comics will pop in and out. There are some mild mentions of a Marvel canonical story line but it's not noticeable and unimportant. Just fun.
> 
> I apologize now. I have no Beta, all mistakes are mine and I'm sorry. I respond well to polite criticism.

The night had continued better than it had started, they had relaxed; Tony hadn’t pulled his hand away when Steve had taken his hand to direct him to the restaurant. Steve had even taken the bill, despite Tony’s loud complaints. 

They’d gone to the downtown walk, stopping as local bands started up and they wandered aimlessly through the crowds. A few people noticed the celebrity pair but being New Yorkers they didn’t look around too much. 

Now as they stood in the cool air just inside the mansion gates. Steve had stepped close; the clouds of their breath mingle. Steve leaned down capturing Tony’s mouth with his, their lips slanting together again, perfectly aligned and with perfect intensity. 

“’Night, Tony,” Steve whispered.

~*~

The next weeks went by in bliss, the two missions they were deployed on went seamlessly and the dating had seemed to go beautifully. The tower was even nearly finished and they were starting the process of moving in. They’d even agreed to a double date with Agent and Clint. Clint had even become something of a friend, Agent still annoyed him to no end but he had become friends with Steve because who wouldn’t be friends with Steve. 

“Mr. Rogers for you, sir, may I recommend that you wipe the grease from your face and find your missing shoe?” Jarvis’s cultured tone came across the line. 

“Yes, one second, Jarvis. Tell him you lost the keys to the workshop!” Tony scrambled. Where the hell had his shoe gone? He’d tossed it at Dummy and now it was missing. 

“I’m sure he’ll believe that, sir,” Jarvis intoned. 

“Dummy! Where’s my shoe?” he yelled, from beneath his desk. 

“Tony?” Steve’s voice floated in. “Are you okay?”

Tony swore before righting himself. “Thanks, Jarvis. Love you, man… Hey, babe. I’m good, great, now that you’re here.”

Steve kissed his hair, wiping the grease from his lips. “You’re going to need to wash your hair again, it’s nearly time for bed.”

“Yes, yes, do you see my shoe?”

“Isn’t it on your…?” Steve questioned looking down. “Nope, your shoe is gone. How does that even happen?” 

Tony shrugged; he kicked off his other shoe, deciding to go bohemian. “Happens during science. And sex. Things, everywhere.”

Steve nodded, “I’m going to shower in ten.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Tony nerved. Steve didn’t normally tell him of his shower habits but they usually shared a nightcap before Steve went to bed and Tony went back to science. 

The blonde took a deep breath a blush staining his cheeks, making his ears pink up in a very cute way. “I was thinking you could join me.”

Tony would swear, days later, that in that moment his arc reactor flickered. Steve would laugh him off but Tony knew it did. 

“Sure, let’s head there now. My room, yeah?” He tried to play it cool but he knew by the sexy raise of Steve’s eyebrow, that he had failed miserably. 

~*~

Later that night, pleasantly sore and freshly washed Tony laid his head on Steve’s chest, trying to muffle the light of his arc reactor. 

“Sorry, about the light,” he apologized again, after Jarvis had lowered the lights. 

Steve’s arm tightened around him. “It’s fine, I grew up in New York and then later in the war, Tony. A light is nothing.”

“I know but it’s really bright, I’m thinking of building a cover for it. Something that locks and…” Steve rolled over and pinned him to the bed kissing him until he stopped mumbling. 

He lay down, trying to keep his large frame from crushing his boyfriend. He noticed the way Tony’s breath hitched when Steve got closer to the arc reactor. Keeping eye contact he gently kissed the cool metal, lying down next to it. 

“Go to sleep, sweetheart,” Steve murmured. 

~*~

Tony woke up at 5 AM. Alone. He resisted the urge to search for a note or some sign that Steve had been there. Hoping upon hope, that this wasn’t some horrible ending to a dream. 

“Jarvis? Did Steve leave a message?” Tony asked, hesitantly. 

“No, sir. He did awaken about forty-five minutes ago and left on a run.”

“Fuck,” Tony muttered. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” 

The first fucking time he falls asleep with someone other than Pepper and they’re gone. Fuck. Shit. He should’ve ran straight down to his workshop rather than let Steve be annoyed by his constant wiggling and the incessant light from his chest. He grabbed the first pair of jeans he could find, jumping into them sans underwear and grabbing an undershirt. Shoes… shoes… he needed shoes. Why were all his shoes missing? Right when he’d given up and decided to slide on a pair of dress shoes, Jarvis broke in. 

“Mr. Rogers for you, sir.” The elevator opened to show Steve Rogers, still in his running gear, sweaty and gorgeous, with two cups of coffee. 

“With the one shoe again?” Steve asked, stepping in. He took a long look at Tony’s face. “You okay?”

“Fine. Good, just lost my shoes,” Tony muttered. 

“Do you want to go sit on the balcony? Maybe put on some clean pants?” Steve said with a bright smile. 

“Sounds good.” Tony grinned back; maybe this would work out okay. 

~*~

And everything was great for a while… Until it wasn’t. 

Tony looked at his phone, not sure if it was lying to him or not. A Juliet Carter had left a message for him. She said they had to talk and that almost never heralded something good. He resisted the urge to delete it. 

Instead he called her back. 

“Hey, Tony,” a voice answered. He remembered her now, a blonde from the party a few weeks back. 

“Listen, I’m back at school this week but I just… Are you sitting down?” 

Tony’s knees buckled and he thunked down on the couch. This was bad. No one-night stand ever called with good “sitting down” news. Did he have a VD now? AIDS?

“What’s up?” he croaked. 

She sighed on the other end. “I just want you to let me say my piece before you flip out okay. Can you do that?”

“Okay,” he huffed. 

He heard her take a deep breath obviously steadying herself. “I’m pregnant... It’s yours before you ask. Yes, I was on birth control. Yes, we used condoms. And yet the doctor confirmed I’m nine weeks along this morning. I want it loud and clear, right now, that I’m not blackmailing you. I don’t want anything from you or your money. I’m not sure what I plan to do yet but I think it’s only right that as the father, you should know. I would say, I’m sorry, but it takes two to do this so I won’t. I’m not telling anyone but you should know… Are you okay?”

Tony heard a muffled squeaking noise that he hadn’t realized he could make coming from his mouth. “You’re sure?”

“Harvard doesn’t hire stupid doctors for the student clinic,” she answered gently. 

“I’m, uh, I’m…” he faded off. His vision swam a little. 

She sighed again. “Do that for another three hours and eat ten pancakes and you’ll be where I am. Listen. I’m not planning to do anything right away. The doctor advised I settle and think my options over before coming up with a plan. I’m sure your lawyers will call me in the interim. No hard feelings. I’ll give you a heads up with what I plan to do.”

The phone went dead. 

The little voice in his head began screaming, Steve! Call Steve, now! He knew exactly what to do. 

“Call Pepper, Jarvis! It’s an emergency,” he begged. 

The videoconference came up with Pep’s exasperated face. “I’m in a meeting Tony.” Her eyebrows knit before she excused herself and came closer to the phone. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. 

Tony felt the tears going down his face but couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard he tried. “She’s pregnant, Pepper.”

Pepper’s eyes seemed to widen impossibly. “Who? I thought you were with, Steve!”

“A woman, before I started with Steve. She’s not asking for anything, yet. She was a student at Harvard, working on a law degree or something. Juliet Carter. She says she’s pregnant. We used protection. I even took the condoms with me. She says she was on birth control. I did everything right! How could this happen?” He cried. He knew how pathetic he looked but Pepper had seem him worse. 

“Is she asking for anything? Has she contacted a lawyer? Did she serve you? Is she planning to keep the baby?”

Tony shook his head miserably, sniffling and wiping his nose on his Henley. “No, no, no, and she doesn’t know. She said she’d call back when she had made a decision.”

“Mr. Rogers,” Jarvis announced. But by then Steve was already skidding into the room.

“What’s wrong? Jarvis said there was an emergency, I didn’t hear the alarms,” he stooped and sat next to Tony on the couch, not even asking about the tears. Tony was painfully silent, unmoving and silent. 

“Miss Potts, can you tell me?” Steve questioned.

Pepper shook her head. “It’s not my place, I’ll call back later.” Her face disappeared from the wall. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asked. 

Tony couldn’t force his jaw to move to answer. He could feel the numbness spreading from his toes to his hair follicles. 

“Tony, whatever it is. I’ll try to help. I’m not very useful in some things but I can be a sounding board. You can trust me. I thought you knew that.” Steve was beginning to look distressed. 

His mouth opened and the only thing that tumbled out was, “I can’t lose you.” 

Steve’s eyes took on the confused puppy look, his head tilting and eyes sinking. “You’re not going to lose me, just tell me, you’re scaring me.”

“Jarvis, cue up my conversation with… Miss Carter.”

He waited for the woman’s voice finish and line to go dead before making eye contact with Steve again. The blonde had sat suddenly on the floor. 

“A baby? She’s pregnant?” Steve gasped, his eyes wide. 

Tony could only nod. 

“What do… Gee. We need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.” Steve stood and paced. “We’ve been together two months, so it was right before we got together. Is she… Gosh.” Steve sat again. 

The billionaire nodded. Steve reached over and took Tony’s hand in his, kissing his knuckles. And at that moment, Tony Stark fell in love. 

~*~

Steve cleared his throat, sitting beside Tony. He had never seen Tony so still, even in his sleep the man flexed and moved. Steve didn’t know what to do. He wanted to support Tony. The man had just been hit with news that was life changing. No matter what happened Tony was a father, there was a life out there with his genetic strand. 

Tony cleared his throat, “I think I need a drink.” Steve tugged him up, past the bar, and downstairs to the coffee machine. 

“Jarvis is anyone else here?” Steve asked as they continued down the staircase. 

“No, Captain Rogers. Agents Barton, Coulson, and Romanov are out,” Jarvis responded. “Are you all right, Sir? I have taken the liberty of accumulating as much information as I can about Miss Juliet Carter for perusing at your leisure. Is there anything else I can do?”

They sat there for a long time, blowing through ten cups of coffee before either could muster up enough energy to speak. 

“I think the most important question, next to what does she want to do, is what do you want to do Tony?” 

“I don’t know.” Tony sighed, setting his cup down. “It all depends on what she does, I mean, if she aborts there’s nothing to be done. It’s her uterus…”

“Aborts?” Steve had heard of such things, discussed in seedy tales of loose women during the war, women that had gotten pregnant by soldiers. “You mean…”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, women are allowed to abort if they so choose, it’s much safer than it was back in the day. Don’t ask me how it’s done, I don’t know and I don’t want to. She could also give the baby up for adoption. Or keep it herself.”

“What about you? She can give the baby to you right?” 

Tony shook his head. “That would be a shit idea. I might turn the thing into a robot or lose it, or forget to feed it and kill it like that cactus I got. I didn’t even know you could kill a cactus, I tried watering it but it just died.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” Steve rebuked. “You’re too smart.”

He laughed aloud nearly falling off his chair. “My dad did. You know he left me locked up in one of the storage cabinets in the basement? He was watching me when Nanny was sick and mother was out. He told me to stay in the storage lock up and then forgot to let me out, nine hours later, when my mother came home she found me. He had locked up and gone upstairs. He was passed out on the sofa when mother took me to bed. That’s exactly what I would do.”

“Look at me, Tony,” Steve said, taking Tony’s face between his over-large palms. “I know you. Yes, you may do stupid things occasionally but you would never harm a child.”

Tony sighed. “I know I would never hurt my kid on purpose, but neglect can be just as damaging.” 

Steve ignored his comments. “I realize convincing you can’t happen until it happens but, I want you to know, that even if it were possible for you to hurt your child, do you think there is a single person in this tower that would allow you?”

~*~

The billionaire all but fell out of his chair when Juliet’s name popped up again on his phone in a scramble to answer it. 

It had been a long week since she had called and Tony had found every legal and illegal thing he could about her. She had graduated from Harvard two years early as summa cum laude, as a major in business law and a minor in art history. He had ripped apart her Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even her Match account. She was a liberal with a large vocabulary and particularly concerned with animal rights. She had a small, very conservative family. They were old money from Massachusetts. He had scanned every photo and reviewed all her Tweets and status changes from the past year. She had a Beta fish named El Jefe, that she claimed was as wise as the greatest of the Buddhist monks. The thing that truly drew his attention was her remark about never wanting children on her dating profile. 

And yet he still didn’t know what she would do while currently ten weeks pregnant with his… child. It had taken him a while to wrap his mind around the idea that in the world right now, there was a smear of DNA that was his. Maybe not a child but could one day be. Could one day be a walking talking human, wholly separate but forever linked to him. 

He hadn’t known what he was going to do and Steve was painfully supportive, not bringing it up unless Tony promoted him and a sympathetic ear to his incessant ramblings. It had been a wild rollercoaster of anger at Juliet and the world, to anger at himself, to self- pity, to fear of the unknown. He had gone back and forth creating specs to build himself a new bar that would automatically create any cocktail to a crib that could sense heart rate, respiration, and temperature. 

Inspiration finally came while on a stroll through Central Park, Steve liked to go out and sketch things, often dragging Tony out for his allotment of Vitamin D. Tony only went along to rile up the ducks. There was a mother and father across the way from him, yelling at one another. There was a baby in a stroller, she was obviously unhappy at her parents volume, sitting in a broken down stroller. The parents had parked the stroller, standing ten feet away while they screamed at each other. Tony wandered over, smiling as the ducks followed him over to her. 

Then she smiled at him, her eyes lighting up in a way only a baby’s could, like he was the best person in the world. Like he was cool. Not because he was Iron Man, Tony Stark, or the man with the ducks, but just because. 

The baby cooed and he would swear again that his arc reactor fluttered. 

The young parents had come back then, nodding at him before rolling their baby away in their jalopy of a stroller. 

He had known at that moment, that he deserved to give himself a chance. If a stranger baby thought he was good enough to smile at then so was his own baby. 

And his mind was set, he had talked to Steve but was keeping the other Avengers out of it until he spoke to Juliet fully. He had hacked Juliet’s phone and Jarvis kept him updated on her movements. 

“Hey, Juliet. I think we should talk,” he answered before she could speak. “I know you’ve had to have come to a decision by now and there’s a 98.2% change that’s what you’re calling to talk about but I think you should let me say my piece first.”

“I’m willing to listen to anything reasonable, Tony. I do want to consider you.”

“Great, I’ll be there in less than an hour, I have a helicopter waiting. Do you have a place to meet?” He sighed internally; she was going to hear him out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

Tony nervously straightened his tie as he stepped off the helicopter and trotted to the waiting car with Steve hot on his heels. Tony had entertained the idea of going alone but realized that if this went badly he would be devastated and Steve would hear about everything either way. 

It seemed like only seconds before they were pulling up outside the coffee house. Juliet was waiting on the balcony overlooking a stream, a ball cap holding back her long blonde ponytail. They had decided to meet far away from Juliet’s school to keep things from being spread around campus. 

“Hey Tony,” she said, kissing his cheek. “You must be Steve Rogers?” she questioned holding her hand out. The news of Captain America and Iron Man’s relationship had spread quickly through the gossip rags before it had faded off, there was no way Juliet wouldn’t have known. 

“Yes, Miss Carter,” Steve replied, uncertain of her reaction. 

“Call me Juliet, please. I’m sure Tony has explained the… situation,” she asked with a raised brow.

Steve nodded, with a blush. “Yes, ma’am.”

Juliet smiled and gestured for them to sit. “I got a drink while I was waiting but I can wait if you guys want to get something.” 

“We’re fine,” Steve answered, with a smile. 

Tony looked at her for along moment. “I really don’t know if you already have your mind set but I thought we should do this anyway. I’m… I’m…” he sighed aloud, running a hand through his hair to send his perfect coif in all directions. 

Steve took his hand in his own, clasping it tight. Tony’s brain settled. “I was hoping to keep the baby,” he said quickly. 

Juliet took a deep breath. “I still hadn’t dedicated myself to one idea… But you have to realize what you are asking of me. You’re asking for seven more months of carrying a baby. I have school and an internship this summer. I don’t want to raise a baby. I never anticipated having children. Ever.”

“I’m not asking you to raise the baby, I am asking for seven more months. I know that’s a lot. You have an internship with Howell and Lowstein, right? You could still do it. They do business with Stark Industries and they will keep you. If you’re worried about the judgment from them you can do an internship, paid if you want, with SI. Any department you want. I’ll pay for everything and compensate plus money for after the baby. Don’t consider it a pay off but more of a severance package, for maternity. I’ll ask nothing from you afterwards. Nothing.”

“How did you know about H and L?” she questioned after a moment. 

Tony raised an eyebrow, trying to look mystified. “Who said anything about H and L? You were the one that brought it up…” 

She rolled her eyes. “You really need to understand, I don’t want a baby. I’m not saying I hate kids, or even hate this kid but I just don’t want anything to do with them. I’m not cut out to be a mother. When I was a kid I wanted nothing to do with babies while all the other girls gathered around. I still run the other direction when I see one.”

“I get that. Believe me, I do. I never considered a baby. But you have to realize. This is the only family I have. It might have been an accident but I feel like I have to give this a shot. I’m willing to raise him or her… or at least give it a good try.”

She nodded. “I guess I can understand that. I know it’s a little reminiscent of eugenics but I can’t help but think, with your brains… who knows what this…this baby could be capable of. I know they advertise about the baby that could’ve cured cancer but, to be honest, this one could be it. He or she, they've got the genetics to possibly do it.”

Tony nodded sagely. “That idea hadn’t escaped me. I honestly don’t care about that though, as long as they’re healthy. I know you never planned this and I’m asking a lot of you but I really want this. I’ll beg if I have to and I’ll pay whatever you want.”

She nodded. “What about taking care of this baby? What will you do? You have a very dangerous lifestyle. What happens to the baby if something happens to you? Like you said, the baby is the only family you have.”

“I have friends. People that would protect this baby and they will have enough money to take care of anything the baby may need. Believe me, I know what I’m asking of you. The baby will be well taken care of. It'll be due in late September and you’ll just be starting school. A pain, I know, but if a doctor approves it you can induce or get a doctor’s leave.”

She sighed, staring off into the forest for a long tense moment. She looked back at Tony and Steve. “I’m willing to do this. I’m pro-choice and this is my choice. I was considering adopting out the baby.”

Tony smiled, his tenuous control slipping. He pulled his glasses tight to his face, refusing to look up and let anyone see his wet-eyes.

Steve was more open about it. “That’s great, Juliet, really.”

“I want it on record though now. You can’t dictate to me what to do, I’ll get check-ups, I won’t drink or do drugs, not that I do drugs anyway, but things are up to me. I’m not going to let you dictate to me what I should eat or do.” She looked stern.

The billionaire nodded. “Sure, sure. If… what about fumes? And caffeine? And roller coasters?”

Steve cut him off. “She’ll be careful, Tony.”

“I’m laying off the caffeine but I won’t give that up altogether, no Red Bulls and no Monsters. I’ve spent so much of my time puking up over the past few weeks that drinks like that aren’t sitting with me. Whoever called it morning sickness was a serious idiot.” She grimaced in distaste. 

Tony grimaced, “Sorry about that. I could have someone try to come up with something to help with that.”

“It’s not your fault I spent Valentine’s Day hunched over the sink,” she smiled sarcastically. “I thought you might like to see this, I originally was going to use it to convince you that adoption was a route but...well…” 

She pushed across a black and white sonogram picture. “The blue circle shows where the fetus is.”

Tony pulled the picture closer, lifting his sunglasses for a better look. “He’s got my black dot.”

“Shut up,” Steve laughed, looking closely at the picture. 

“I have another soon,” Juliet continued. “I’ll forward along another sonogram then.”

Tony nodded his head, he had hoped to be asked to come along but assumed she wasn’t quite ready for that. 

“I want this completely anonymous, if that wasn’t clear, I can’t have people knowing. I’ll come up with a cover story. You’ll have a kid and what you tell the media is your business but I want my name out of it.” Tony and Steve nodded their heads understandingly. 

“What about you saying you’re a surrogate? A gay couple in Massachusetts? Hell, I can find a couple of actors to play the part. You can say it’s to help pay for school, a rebel independence from your parents or something.” Tony seemed to grab on this idea. 

Juliet nodded her head, “I can do that. It’s a good idea.”

They descended into a long, awkward silence. 

“We should break this up, I have to get back to school. You know where I live.”

Steve took over. “Call anytime, day or night. Even if you just need someone to talk to and especially if you need something.” 

“Seriously, if you need anything, more clothes, a better mattress, a package of pickle-flavored ice cream, call.” 

~*~

Tony waited until the helicopter slid shut and they lifted into the air before beginning to relax again. 

“I swear I’ve never cried this much as I have over the past week,” Tony half-sobbed half laughed into his arm, his other hand clutching the sonogram. 

Steve rubbed his back comfortingly. “It’s been quite an interesting few days. I want you to know though, babe. I’m going to stand by you, no matter what.” 

Tony turned large eyes on him, fragile. “I don’t want you to be here out of pity. I can handle this. I’m a big boy.”

He knew Tony was being a bit irrational. “I’m not here out of pity, you’re my boyfriend. This is your child. I want to be here.”

~*~

As soon as Happy dropped him off at the mansion Tony all but sprinted for his workshop. He had science to do, people to consult, calls to make, so much to do and not enough time. He had been rattling to Jarvis, making a list of things to do. 

“Tony. Tony. Tony!” Steve called, stopping him in the foyer. “Calm down, you’re going to short-circuit. I know you’re just doing what you do but this all doesn’t need to be done by the end of the week. You’ve got months before the baby is due…”

“Due?! Baby?! What baby?” the vent called. Barton’s feet popped out of a cover, followed shortly by his compact body. 

“Barton!” Tony shouted. “Get the fuck out of my vents.”

Clint smiled. “I’m out of them! And what’s this about a baby? How far along are you Tony? Judging by your beer gut I’d say… six months?”

“We’re calling a team meeting,” Steve explained. “Everything will be explained then. Until then I ask you to keep what you’ve heard to yourself. We’ll see you at seven.”

“Wait? Are you fucking serious?! Tony? What the Hell?” His blue-grey eyes were huge in his head. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “I am not pregnant, and neither is Steve… Seven. In the family room.” 

Tony was back to walking at a full-clip. “First things first,” he announced, stepping into his workshop. 

“Jarvis bring up that gyno book and the other pregnancy book. Throw the baby’s sonogram up and do all scans necessary. See if you can get any relevant data. I need you looking for Juliet Carter’s medical records, they have to have that online. Second, I need the name of the best OB/GYN in New York and Malibu. Call Bruce, he has some study of biology see if he knows anyone.”

“Sir,” Jarvis came online. “My findings are ready. The baby is approximately 10 mm long at this nine week stage in the sonogram and weighs approximately 1.1 grams.”

“Can you put that in relative terms, Jarvis?” Steve asked. 

“Of course, the baby is approximately an inch long and weighs about the same amount as a paperclip.”

Steve looked down at his hands, imagining how small a paperclip actually was. Barely the size of his thumbnail. 

“Tony, how did they get the picture of the baby?” Steve asked curiously. 

Tony gestured. “They have something that’s a lot like radar that they use on a woman’s uterus. It’s a sound wave that they pulse in and on the read out the sound waves create an image.”

“Neat.”

“Jarvis, I need a book of names…”  
~*~

Steve waited patiently for all his teammates to take a seat, while Tony paced nervously. Clint was still looking a bit stunned but waited quietly. Coulson was the last one to step into the room. 

“I didn’t invite S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Tony grumbled. 

The three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the room rolled their eyes. 

Pepper’s voice drifted over the videoconference phone. “They’re your friends and Phil is going to find out anyway.”

“We… I… we have an announcement. I… mean…”

Steve took over, grasping Tony’s hand tightly in his own, “What he means to say is we have an announcement but it mostly concerns him.”

“What’s going on guys?” Bruce questioned looking up from tablet. “You’re starting to make me nervous.”

“A few weeks ago, before Steve and I got together, I slept with a woman, Juliet Carter. Despite using protection, she got pregnant. She’s nearly twelve weeks along now.”

They let that settle in, watching them go through various motions. Bruce cleaned his glasses, not looking up for a long moment. Natasha’s entire body had tightened and seemed to be going through the stages of relaxing muscle by muscle. Agent Coulson was frozen, his face appearing immovable. The only one showing a genuine reaction was Barton. Pepper was as calm as ever; she was already abreast of the situation and had legal going over it. 

Clint’s jaw had fallen wide before he blinked and to closed it. “What are you going to do?” he questioned. “What is she going to do?”

They all sat forward on the question. “We’ve been discussing that and we came to an agreement. She will have the baby and afterwards I’ll take custody. She doesn’t want her family to find out and she wants nothing to do with the baby. She’s due in September.”

“You. You are going to take custody of a baby?” Clint was the first to ask again. 

“Yes,” Tony confirmed. 

Clint’s eyes widened. “Wow.” 

“I can do this,” Tony argued, when no one said anymore.

“I never said you couldn’t Tony,” Clint backtracked. “I’m more concerned about the idea of a baby around all this. The Avengers. Are you quitting?” 

Tony shook his head. “No.” 

“Have you confirmed her pregnancy with a doctor?” Agent Coulson asked, seeming to come out of his stupor.

Steve shook his head. “No, we’ve seen a sonogram but nothing more. We believe her though.” 

Coulson nodded his head, deep in thought. “S.H.I.E.L.D. has doctors and the facilities to keep this quiet.”

“I don’t want some government hack doctor,” Tony muttered. 

Clint grimaced. “I may think the doctors are idiots but they aren’t too bad at their actual job, Tony. They managed to put Humpty-Dumpty over here back together again.” He gestured to Coulson. 

“He’ll think over the options,” Steve said diplomatically. 

“Have you considered adoption?” Coulson asked quietly, trying to be the voice of reason. 

Clint jumped in. “He’s not going to send his kid to an orphanage!”

“I’m not saying to put his child in an orphanage but this job, this lifestyle, it’s dangerous. There are families that would take in the baby. It’s something to at least consider.” The agent tried to put a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder but the look Clint sent him could’ve frozen water. 

“No. It’s wrong!” He was vehement. Clint turned to Tony and Steve, “Don’t do it.”

“We considered it, but it’s my kid, he or she belongs with me,” Tony agreed.

Steve passed around the sonogram. “She goes to get another sonogram this week.”

“But you still haven’t confirmed this pregnancy though? How are you sure she’s not making this up?” Natasha asked, ever the conspiracy theorist. 

Tony grimaced. “I may or may not have hacked her medical files.” 

Coulson took that and began to text. “I’m more inclined to believe her then. I am hoping you’ll have a DNA test run though.” 

“DNA?” Steve questioned.

“It’s a blood or cell test that establishes paternity,” Coulson explained. “They can match parent to child.”

Tony nodded his head. “I will have a DNA test run.”

Coulson looked at his phone as it buzzed. “Fury needs to be informed but this will be kept under wraps. Nobody needs to know, we run too much risk of someone going after this Juliet Carter. She’ll need to be put under observation. I’m sure you have Jarvis tracking her?”

Tony laid his head on his arms. “Yes, of course.”

“Inform me the second she does something outside the norm,” Coulson said. “I have phone calls to make if there’s nothing else.”

Clint grinned. “Can we start voting on baby names? I think Hawkeye Jr. has a certain ring to it.”

Tony laughed aloud, the tension starting to leave him. “Yeah, I’m not naming my kid after you.”

Bruce smiled. “What about Hulk Jr.? He did save your life after all.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of fluff with a bit of angst. :)

Tony convinced Juliet to fly to New York for the weekend and Tony admitted openly that he took the suit to fly alongside the helicopter on the way. They arrived at SHEILD facilities and Coulson met them on the roof. 

It had been decided that Juliet would be brought in as far as was needed without being made aware of SHIELD and it’s duties. 

The Iron Man suit fell away as Tony stepped away, the suit folding back into its original form. Juliet smiled at him as she stepped out. “That’s pretty nifty,” she commented, pointing at the suit.

“What? This old thing?” he laughed, as Steve picked up the briefcase. 

“You ready for this?” she questioned, looking at the men. 

Steve smiled at her. “Very ready. How are you feeling, ma’am?” 

She grimaced. “Oh, wonderful. I think if I throw up anymore I may just throw up the baby. Other than that I seem to be okay. No cravings, no aches.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he said genuinely. “I hope things start to smooth out for you. I was reading that the first few months are bad while your body adjusts.”

Juliet laughed. “Wow. You are just too sweet for words. Tony is very lucky to have you.” 

It was Steve’s turn to laugh. “I tell him that everyday.”

Agent Coulson stepped up, ever the bureaucratic man in black. “Miss Carter, it’s a pleasure. I’m Agent Coulson and am helping Mr. Stark get you in and around New York safely.”

She became serious. “I understand, Agent Coulson, and I appreciate the discretion. We both agree that this doesn’t need to come to light until everyone is free and clear.” 

“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the doorway. 

Inside they stayed away from areas labeled with SHIELD emblems and agents were told to stay far away from the designated area. Tony, with Bruce’s help, had vetted the SHIELD OB/GYN. He had proved himself up to snuff both through qualifications and experience. SHIELD did really only hire the best. 

“I need you to sign these,” the agent said, handing over a few sheets of paperwork. “Simple discretionary papers and papers allowing us to view your medical records from your appointments with Doctor Stewart.” They stopped in a conference room where she signed over the paperwork.

She read over the paperwork for a few minutes before looking up, “I’m not going to pretend to not be creeped out about how you guys can fill this out for me beforehand. It’s slightly disconcerting but I realize things are a little different here in superhero world.” She spent long minutes reading over the sheets. “This is pretty air tight.”

“It’s very air tight, ma’am,” Coulson answered. She signed the paperwork and handed it over, watching it disappear into Coulson’s files. 

Dr. Stewart came in a moment later. “Hi, Miss Carter. I’m Dr. Stewart and I’ll be looking after you while you’re here. Would you like to come with me?” 

She stood. “You coming?” she asked, looking pointedly at Tony.

Tony stood, nearly tripping, sending his chair into Coulson. “Sure, I just didn’t know if you’d want…”

“Well, I didn’t come all this way to leave you out. It’s weird enough. Steve? You can come if you like too.” The men stood and followed her out. 

The doctor waved them into a room, with a nurse at the ready. “If you just want to step into the restroom we need a urine sample and you to get changed. You can leave the sample in the restroom.” 

Steve blushed beautifully but stood at attention anyway. “Relax, soldier. Things are going to get a little over the top for your sensibilities in about ten minutes.”

Dr. Stewart nodded. “Yes, at thirteen weeks it’s about right to do an abdominal ultrasound but we may need to do an internal one if the uterus isn’t positioned properly.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, “Are those the ones with a wand that I was hearing about on the news a few months back?”

Both men nodded. “What does that entail exactly?” Tony whispered into his ear and the captain’s eyes nearly popped from his head. 

“You are not doing that to her!” he protested. 

“No worries, Steve,” Juliet said stepping from the restroom. “I’ve already had it done once now... But I appreciate your vote for my comfort.”

“How’ve you been feeling, Miss Carter?” Dr. Stewart asked, jotting some notes. 

She smiled. “Tired and like I may vomit at any moment. Other than that, I’m actually feeling okay.”

He smiled at her. “Everybody takes it on a little differently. How’ve you been coping with the morning sickness?”

“Gingerbread and tea. Sometimes orange soda or 7-up, helps a bit too.”

The doctor picked up her file and flicked through it. “I’ve noticed you haven’t put on much weight. I would encourage that when you are hungry, you indulge. The baby is going to start growing rapidly over the next few months and you will need the extra weight.”

Juliet nodded. “I’ll try, Doctor.”

Tony was also furiously jotting down notes, typing without looking at his hands. They talked for a few long moments about how she was feeling before moving on to the physical examination.

“The curtain, Rose,” the doctor said. “You’ll still be able to hear us Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers.” 

Their voices quieted and Steve was pointedly trying to tune out his super soldier hearing. Unfortunately, his hearing was superb and he could distinctly hear how sensitive she was and how she was “carrying”. Tony on the other hand, seemed to be hanging on every word, his face serious and clinical. 

The curtain was pulled back again and the nurse beckoned Steve and Tony over. 

“We’re about to turn on the ultrasound,” the doctor informed them. “And here it is…”

The image changed and morphed for a few long moments before finally settling. “There is the baby.” In the middle of the gray screen was black dot with a gray blob in the middle.

“Here is the head, and the beginnings of legs and arms are here. Heart rate is 150 beats per minute. The baby is about 32 mm long and 5 grams. Growing along a great little rate.” 

“Is that normal?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow. “The baby was only 10 mm a few weeks ago.” 

Dr. Stewart nodded. “Yes, the baby will grow about a millimeter a day.”

Tony looked closely at the monitor. “It kind of looks like an alien,” he admitted. 

Steve was scandalized. “That’s your baby, Tony. Don’t call it any alien.”

"Our baby," Tony corrected.

“Would you like a picture?” Dr. Stewart asked, printing out a picture already. 

Juliet looked at the monitor. “I just can’t believe something that small is causing me to be this sick.” 

“How are we going to establish paternity?” Dr. Stewart questioned. “Do you want to wait until birth or we can run an amniocentesis?”

Tony looked down at his notes. “An amniocentesis is risky right? I read up about an SNP Microarray that can give DNA.”

“We would have to wait a few weeks for an SNP and send it out of house. I don’t know about SNP but there are a few labs that are experienced.”

“I already discussed it with Dr. Banner, he’s agreed to research it for me and if he can’t do it, he’ll find someone her trusts who can. I’d rather wait a few extra weeks than risk the baby with a giant needle.”

Juliet nodded. “If there’s a less invasive test, I’d rather do that.” 

~*~

That night, Steve and Tony lay in bed together. Steve had had to physically keep Tony from going down to the lab and begin more work. Steve was slightly ashamed to admit he had used sexual advances to distract the genius but he didn’t regret the results. 

Tony kept his head pillowed on Steve’s chest as he flipped through the pages of his E-book, highlighting important parts. 

“They say in a few weeks we should be able to hear the heartbeat and we should be able to see more of the physical development. I’m a little nervous about her weight. I sent her a case of raviolis in case she’s feeling up to food. The ears should’ve started to develop this week but they’ll start to pick up sounds in another month or two. I think we should do some recordings of our voices so the baby will start to recognize them.”

Steve looked at his own book, he’d read that but hadn’t thought about a recording. “I like that. You could record your voice, so the baby knows it.”

Tony pointedly didn’t look up when he asked his next question. “You don’t want your voice recorded?”

“I want my voice included, of course, but only if you want me to have it included.”

“You have a nice voice, it should be included. Maybe later we’ll include Jarvis and some of the other noises of our home.”

Steve kissed the side of Tony’s head. “Thanks, I need to think of something to say.”

“How about you sing ‘Star Spangled Man with a Plan’?” Tony didn’t stop laughing even when Steve shoved him off the bed. 

~*~

Tony was banged up when he staggered into the examination room but he made a show of it. Tossing himself into a chair, ignoring the way his sore body protested. A doom bot had managed to grab ahold of them and shook him like an Etch-a-Sketch, rattling painfully in his tin can of a suit. 

Steve stalked in a moment later, freshly changed but glaring darkly at Tony. “You’re supposed to be in medical.”

Juliet glanced between the two of them. “What’s wrong?” 

“Just a few bang ups before you got here. I’m fine.”

They were doing another scan of the baby and Juliet had been kind enough to journey up to New York again. 

“Well, let’s get this scan going before Mr. Stark passes out on the floor,” Dr. Stewart said with a disagreeing frown. “You’re concussed.”

“Be that as it may,” Tony started, “I wanted to see the baby, now it’ll just look like there’s two of them.”

Juliet gave him a worried glance but they turned on the monitor.

Dr. Stewart glanced at the scan, “Well, the baby is still pretty quiet maybe one day you’ll get to see some movement. The heart rate is about 160 but you can see a lot of changes, the arms and legs are much longer. He or she is almost two and a half inches long and is probably three quarters of an ounce.”

“Wow,” Steve murmured. “She’s growing so fast.”

Juliet smiled up at the Captain. “And I don’t feel like I’ve grown an inch.”

“Tony, you seeing this? Look, the baby doesn’t look like an alien anymore.” 

Tony blinked a few times, forcing his brain to focus. He smiled. “Definitely a baby,” he smiled. “Look at the little nub-feet!”

~*~

Later Tony passed around the ultrasound like the proud father he was. 

“Look at that! The baby has Tony’s huge head!” Clint crowed from where he crouched on the dining table. Coulson snatched the picture from his hand, he had already looked at the picture shortly after the scan, but Tony didn’t need to know he was keeping such close tabs on the baby. 

“Definitely,” he commented dryly. “Have you contacted lawyers about the baby’s custody?”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “We shouldn’t be discussing that already with Juliet.”

“No, it’s pragmatic, Steve,” Tony growled. “Agent, for once, has a good idea.”

“Agent Coulson always has good ideas,” Clint smirked. “Pragmatic is his middle name.”

“Shut up, Barton,” Coulson ordered. 

Tony held out the tablet with the paperwork he’d been working on with the lawyers to Coulson. “That’s the beginning of the papers. I like Juliet and all but I don’t want her to be able to easily step back in and take the baby. We’re drafting papers for her complete surrender of maternal rights with a compensatory fee.” 

Coulson took the tablet, “I agree. Do you mind if I make notes to these?” 

“Sure, I’ll forward you a copy later too.”

The agent made a noise, already focused on the StarkPad in his hand. 

Steve frowned at the pair. With Coulson’s planning and Tony’s mania, they could rule the world.

~*~

At seventeen weeks, they were working on their first good scan of the baby. Juliet was still not showing, it turns out she was carrying “in her back” which hid the baby, only making her appear thicker than normal. Tony had been very concerned but had been reassured by Jarvis and the doctor that it was normal and every woman was different. Juliet’s back was completely out of sorts with the new weight and pressure there. 

They would be able to hear the heartbeat with luck and they were hoping to see the baby move. Both Steve and Tony were very excited and had been up early in preparation. Tony had been awake most of the past three days discussing needs with Jarvis and keeping track of Juliet. 

Steve had had to talk him down from building a cradle but had begun to let him research the best in child safety. Each time he had run into a new product he was determined he could make it better. Pepper had had to flat out refuse to buy three baby companies; Gerber had personally thanked her. 

“I love your enthusiasm, Tony, but you’re starting to drive everyone a bit batty,” Steve had begged. “Just… reign it in a bit please.”

Now here they were to do a much more thorough exam. Dr. Stewart pulled on gloves and Steve had finally stopped blushing when the doctor mentioned Juliet’s “lady parts”, much to Tony’s glee. 

He spread gel across her lower stomach and turned on the machine. “And there you are,” he said. “I have to do some measurements so give me a moment here, just a check for some congenital disorders.”

Tony looked at the baby, his eyes widened when the baby seemed to shift. 

“Looks like he’s awake,” the doctor murmured. 

He watched as the baby’s legs curled to his chest before stretching again. 

“Oh my God,” Tony said quietly.

“Will you look at that,” Steve murmured, stunned. The baby turned and pushed a hand out; you could clearly see five fingers. 

Dr. Stewart chuckled. “The baby might be a little irritated looks like he’s trying to push us away. He’s wriggling up a storm.”

“I thought you said they couldn’t feel this?” Tony questioned. “Is she in distress?”

“No, perfectly fine. The eardrums aren’t even developed and these are all sound waves. The baby is just awake.”

Juliet looked at the sonogram, “I can’t believe the baby is moving that much, I can’t feel a thing.”

“She’s only about three inches long,” Steve reminded her. 

They were riveted as the baby continued to wriggle, before seeming to finally find a comfortable spot to snuggle down. “Let’s see if we can get a read on her heart,” Dr. Stewart said, angling the wand until they heard a steady thump. 

“That’s really fast,” Steve commented. 

“Perfectly normal, tiny body, faster heart rate. Well, Mr. Stark, there’s the baby.” The doctor went quiet for long moments, making marks on the screen. 

He looked up with a smile. “All the NT markers are clear, he or she seems to be developing just fine, and bone and fluid markers all look good. Today we’ll draw some blood and allow you guys to run the SNP.”

Tony let out a long breath, just as Steve did the same. The baby was fine. 

~*~

“Boarding school?!” Steve roared. “You’re not serious!”

Tony rolled his eyes and pointed to the screen wall. “Yes, I’m serious. Boarding school. I went to boarding school. They are the best schools by far. I went to a few different ones. There’s a fantastic one in Upstate New York. But if I want to send her, I have to start the admissions process now.”

Steve’s jaw hung open inelegantly. “You want to send your only child away to school when there are perfectly good schools right here in New York.”

“I went to boarding school, I still spent plenty of time with my parents. It’s the best way to learn. What do you think of this one?” He gestured to a website. “I don’t know if I like the idea of having to share rooms. It’s supposed to be bonding but I just see it as someone to annoy you at all hours.”

The blonde didn’t answer for a few long minutes, examining the floor closely. “How early do you plan to send them away?”

“The one I like the best, will take them in at three.” Steve sucked in a breath. “It gives them preschool and segways right into regular school.” Tony didn’t seem to realize what this was doing to Steve.

“Can we just talk about this later? He or she hasn’t even been born yet and you’re already planning to send them away.” Steve didn’t look up the floor. 

Tony grimaced. “Can you stop saying, “send them away”? It’s not like I’m kicking them out or dropping them on a doorstep. It’s school. He or she has to go to school! It’s the law! I went to boarding school, it’s just how it’s done.”

“Some things don’t need to be traditional,” Steve remarks before clomping out, grace lost to anger. 

~*~

Bruce came upstairs at breakfast, visibly harried but pleased. “Well, after having to study SNP, then consult anyone with the qualifications, I have your results.”

Tony looked up from his coffee, trying to wake from his coma. “And?”

“Congratulations, you’re a father.” Bruce dropped a stack of paperwork in front of him. 

The billionaire snagged the papers, shuffling through them with lightning speed. “Jarvis, scan these,” he ordered. 

“This is the most important paper,” Bruce said, pulling a paper from the stack. “There are your genetic markers, and there are the baby’s markers. A match, with a 99.8% fail rate. I’d like to do another draw and run a second in a few weeks to be extra sure but the fact that I found the markers at all, indicates enough.”

Tony smiled. 

~*~

“Captain Rogers, for you, sir,” Jarvis rang. 

Tony acknowledged him with a mumble. 

Steve stepped into the room cautiously. “Tony, you’ve been at this for three days, you need sleep.”

“I’mmostdone,” Tony gibbered, connecting wires with a delicate touch. “Jusfinisdis.”

Steve gently peeled the wiring from his hands, ignoring Tony’s mumbled arguments. “I know you think you are speaking English but you’re really not. Come on, love.”

“Love?” Tony asked, befuddled, not looking away. “You love me?” 

Steve took both of Tony’s hands in his own, fitting his chest to Tony’s back. “Yes, you… oddball. I love you. Very much. You’re so brave. I have a hard time using the microwave and still won’t go into the Sharper Image store after that last time but you… your well… you.”

Tony grasped his hands back, tightening until his knuckles into they were white, before releasing them. Tony didn’t reply verbally. His eyes darted around the room quickly, as if looking for something not there. Tony smiled to himself before he sketched a heart on his 3-D schematics, drawing a T & S in the center. He turned in Steve’s arms, touching his arc reactor before gently poking Steve’s chest. He didn’t make eye contact. 

Steve asked Jarvis to save the sketch. Tony couldn’t say it yet but he loved him too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

~*~

“You know, we are going to have to stop this workshop sex, when the baby comes,” Tony commented, idly stretching where he lay across Steve’s chest. 

“I don’t know about that,” Steve replied. “We live in a house full of babysitters. They could watch him or her for a little while.”

Tony sat up. “Doth my ears deceive me? Captain America? Shrugging off responsibility in favor of sex? Don’t tell Agent Striaghtlace, he may Taser me.” 

“It’s called balance. Just like you will learn to balance and not spend five days building a… thing.” 

“It’s a crib, portable. I’m not sure why I’m making it fold up like the briefcase suit but it sounded like a good idea…” he trailed off. 

~*~

Tony knew that soon, the baby would be able to hear voices and sounds. He modified a StarkPlayer to take voice recordings and to adjust the volume for the baby. 

“What am I supposed to say?” he muttered. He had turned the record button on and off, several times. There really wasn’t much too say. He remembered his father’s recordings to him; they hadn’t been sweet or cute. But this was a baby. Wouldn’t you say different things to a baby? 

“Hey, kid,” he said into the microphone. “I am your father.” He laughed; maybe he should name the kid Luke. 

“Tony? You have a moment?” Bruce said, stepping into the room hesitantly. 

Tony looked up, “For you? I have ten. I have twenty if you’re the big guy.” 

Bruce grimaced. “I was wondering if you could check some of my work, the math’s not coming out… What are you doing?” He pointed out the StarkPlayer. 

“Recording my voice. The books say the baby will be able to hear soon and they learn the sound of your voice.”

“True,” Bruce confirmed. 

Tony poked the machine. “The only thing I can’t figure out is what to say…”

“Tony Stark? Out of words?” Bruce laughed aloud. “He can’t understand you, it’s your voice he needs to learn. Talk to the baby. Talk to them about what you’re working on, tell them about Iron Man.”

Tony looked skeptical. “The key is, Tony, that he or she learns the sounds of you, whether that’s the sounds of your voice, your robots, or your workshop. I’d recommend you just talk with me about the math and let that record. No music. You can have Jarvis edit out my voice later.” 

“Might as well try it,” Tony muttered. 

After four hours, it seemed to go well. Tony hadn’t restrained his cursing, much to Bruce’s irritation, but Tony had made the argument that the baby would hear cursing anyway. What was the difference if it started pre-natal? 

Then Tony had taken Bruce’s voice and made that into it’s own recording, despite Bruce’s protest. 

“You’re around. The baby should know your voice. Do you think I could convince the Jolly Green Giant to record a little something? His greatest roars?” 

Bruce had walked out.

Clint had been easier to convince to talk. He snagged the microphone from Tony’s hand. “Hey, Hawkeye Junior. I’m Clint and I’ll teach you how to shoot as soon as you’re old enough to stand upright. Maybe before. I’m going to tell you a little something about this world…” He’d gone on to explain that pretty much everyone in the world sucked but there were a few that didn’t. Natasha and Coulson were it, also Steve, Thor, and Bruce, and possibly Tony. He told him about escargot and how you are not supposed to eat the shells, he had learned that the hard way, how to make a fake passport, to always check to make sure the safety is on, what not to eat when found on the floor, how to pick a pocket, and to never, ever order the tacos at Los Gatos near SHIELD headquarters. 

“In conclusion, Junior, keep money in your shoe. I’ll make sure it’s there for the first few years but once you get old enough to tie your own shoes, you need to put it there yourself. Also always have a can of Chef Boyardee on hand, it’s good stuff, and you don’t even need a can opener for it anymore! So, I’ll see you when you get out! Barton out!”

He handed over the recording device. 

“You should’ve sang to the baby,” Coulson told him, stepping into the kitchen. 

Tony choked. “I don’t want my kid to deafen herself trying to get away from that caterwauling!”

“He has a nice voice,” Natasha said coming in behind Coulson. 

Clint shook his head. “I’m not singing.” 

“Coulson, let’s hear a little something,” Tony held up the recording device. 

Tony was blown away when Coulson took the voice and sat down to start talking. His words were nothing like Clint’s odd tips mixed with survival advice. He discussed how he had met Tony Stark and the behind the scenes that had gone into SHIELD now being involved in Tony’s life. 

“Your father can be extremely annoying but he’s good at what he does so I’m willing to accept it.” He hit the screen to finalize the recording before handing it to Tony. “That should be sufficient.”

Natasha took the device and preceded to speak in long-winded Russian, Tony made a note to have Jarvis translate it for him. He hoped she wasn’t describing how she would hide Tony’s body if he pissed her off anymore. 

~*~

Steve was the last to take the device. He sat in the workshop, sketching while he talked. He’d been as hesitant as Tony before finally beginning to talk to him about his world before the Super Soldier Serum and then about the war, leaving out the more horrific details and sticking to happy memories of the Howling Commandos and his grandfather, Howard Stark. 

Tony was enraptured, paused in his work for an hour as he listened to Steve’s voice chatter on. He learned things about Steve that no one, not even his father, had told him about Steve Rogers. He knew a lot about Captain America, but life as plain Steve Rogers was still a mystery. 

“And then, one day, I woke up. SHIELD tried to break me in easy but it didn’t work out so well. I remember standing in the middle of Times Square and being blown away. I went back to SHIELD after that and tried to catch up. That didn’t go so well either. It’s like learning a whole new language, you just gotta' jump in and swim. Then I met this lunatic halfway through a fight with another lunatic, and that was your father. It hasn’t been the same since. He keeps pushing me in that pool and getting me to swim and it hasn’t been so bad. Now, well, we’re just waiting on you.”

~*~

“Get up, Stark!” Coulson ordered. They were nearly at week twenty-four, past the half way mark and they were starting to talk to Juliet about signing over her parental rights and discussing birth plans. 

“I am up,” Tony muttered back. 

The agent set himself down and held out paperwork. “These are things you and Steve need to look over. The baby is due in late September; Juliet will be entering her third trimester soon. You need to be ready.”

Steve had started to accept Tony’s need to prepare for everything and both Clint and Steve had been stunned by how well Phil and Tony seemed to get along during these planning meetings. They both had very different ways of working but came out with excellent results. 

“Miss Carter will be here by the end of the week, to stay before she starts her internship. It would be a good idea to have the nursery finished.”

“Almost done,” Tony answered, pulling up the diagram for the baby’s room. He had installed it to be an automatic safe-room as well. The walls were reinforced and the windows would be quickly covered by metal plates should a lock-down be necessary. Agent Coulson had even added a few design ideas of his own, trying to plan for the worst-case scenario. The room was large and easily defensible. 

The crib itself had taken on a life of it’s own, with vitals monitors installed and security access needed to reach into the crib. Steve had had to hold Tony back from installing repulsor technology. Tony had also created a baby sling to carry around the infant; he’d read that it was a great way to bond with the baby. Tony had proceeded to make a bullet resistant sling that would still keep the baby cool. Steve had rolled his eyes and resigned himself.

~*~

Tony waited anxiously as the monitor came up with the baby in the center. They were going to find out the gender of the baby if they could. 

The doctor looked closely and nodded towards the monitor. “Expect a handsome baby boy in about 14 short weeks.” 

Steve smiled. “I guess that means we need to start up with the blue clothes.”

Tony grimaced in distaste. “No way. He’s going to dress like a star. I’ll text my personal shopper.”

~*~

The next afternoon, Juliet toured the nursery in the nearly finalized tower, barely looking pregnant despite her advanced stages. She was staying at the Avengers Mansion for a few days before starting her internship at H and L. 

Her hidden pregnancy made life much easier for her, her father had merely commented on how she looked like she had put on weight at college. Tony had resisted the urge to put a hit out on the man. Who said that to their daughter?

“This room is gorgeous,” Juliet murmured, the Tower’s nursery was furnished in black and red. 

She ran a finger along the large round crib. Steve had been mystified by the idea of a round crib but Tony had simply smiled and told him “nobody puts baby in a corner.” Clint had taken Steve aside and shown him the movie later that day.

“You’re… really going to do this,” Juliet murmured to herself. 

Before Steve could ask what she meant, she continued. “I mean, I thought, I was worried you would hesitate and that I’d be left having to find an adoptive family for this child. This… I’ll be able to sleep a lot easier now. As long as the baby stops playing jungle gym on my ribs.” She grinned at the pair.

Tony wasn’t looking at her, appearing to examine the crib closer. Steve took over. “We are very serious. I think we need to start talking about a birth plan.”

“Agent Coulson had mentioned the custody papers too… I think we can get all that and the birth plan finalized before I head to my internship.”

~*~

Tony and Steve were finally blasted out of bed, with Clint’s constant pounding on the door, demanding they come downstairs to brunch. 

They were greeted by a large sign that said, “Congratulations on your baby! And thank you for not cloning yourself!” 

“That was Clint’s idea,” Natasha answered, the unasked question.

“It’s a baby shower!” Thor enthused. “The archer has assured me this has nothing to do with rain or bathing of a child.”

“They did one of these for when Sitwell was having a kid!” Clint said, jumping off the table. “But we are not playing doofy games but I figured it was a slightly better way to give you gifts without it being all weird and awkward. Plus Bruce is making brunch.”

Steve grinned from ear to ear. “Thanks, guys!”

They ate for a few moments before Thor interrupted, handing his gift over with all the allure one could hand someone a huge lump of animal fur. 

He placed it in Steve’s hands, “It is a hide of a mulfala, crafted by the light elves themselves. It is as strong as it is soft.”

Steve admired the piece of work; it was an incredibly soft fur, backed with what felt like the softest suede he had ever touched. He passed the 6-foot blanket to Tony who smiled and thanked Thor, unsure of how to thank someone for an animal hide. 

Clint tossed his box at Tony, as he stuffed another pancake in his mouth. 

Tony cracked it open and pulled out a Mickey Mouse outfit, it even included tiny ears on the hood. 

“Okay, so I went a little crazy at the Disney Store,” Clint said with a smile. It also had a few Mickey themed blankets, a pacifier, and a onesie. 

Phil patted his boyfriend on the shoulder. “Mine next.” He pushed a box forward.

Inside there was a Captain America onesie that made Tony laugh so hard he nearly cried before he pushed it to Steve. “That’s awesome!” he said between cackles.

Steve blushed, “I actually do really like it, will people think it’s odd, though?”

“Tony Stark is his other father, Steve. The weird train left a long time ago.” Tony pulled out the other things he received from Phil, a scrapbook, a bottle, a bottlebrush, and a leash to put his pacifier on. A red, white, and blue leash, of course. 

“Thank you, Agent, Jarvis will write you a very nice thank you note…”

Steve interrupted him, “We will write thank you notes by hand.”

Natasha quietly pushed hers across the table. “Shoes are my thing and I just couldn’t resist.”

Tony and Steve laughed at the tiny converse shoes, slippers, and socks. They were so tiny, Steve put them on the ends of his fingers. 

“I didn’t even think how tiny babies are. Look at the size of these shoes!” He was frightened for a moment. He was a big guy and holding a baby was a delicate thing. Sometimes he wished he was his original size. 

“You’ll be fine!” Tony admonished. “It’s me we all have to worry about.”

“More likely it’s me we have to worry about,” Bruce redirected, he pushed another box forward. This one had a tiny Zen outfit, in tans and browns, made from organic fibers. There was also an organic hooded towel, some baby soap, and some organic blankets.

“We thought maybe it was too many blankets but apparently babies do all kinds of nasty things all over these poor blankets, so we got you extras, and some bibs, and some wet wipes. And since you’re “the name in clean energy” Tony, we thought you might appreciate eco-friendly diapers.” Clint smirked at them as he pushed an extra box at them. “Have fun, daddies!” 

~*~

“No! No! No!” Tony barked. “I want Juliet to have whatever she pleases for the birth but when he arrives I want things done my way! The science behind the skin contact post-birth is sound! Locking him in an incubator and running tests is not how he will spend the first hours of life. Kangaroo care is well-documented and sound science. Bruce, back me up here!”

The older man was scrolling through his Wikipedia entries and articles with lightning speed. “I agree with Tony, it’s a well reasoned argument, and has been used for many years with mothers. Why not used with a father?”

Steve was on the fence. In his day, fathers arrived in time to look over the baby before going back to work. “But if he’s not healthy, he needs to have tests run.” 

Tony shook his head turning on Steve. “No, this guy,” he pointed at the pediatrician, “just wants to run tests on the kid to find out if my arc reactor has effected him. He doesn’t need tests. If he appears in distress, we’ll run tests. It’s not like it’s not possible to run tests with me there. He doesn’t need to be isolated and put in a little NICU coffin.”

The pediatrician nodded along, “That’s all I’m asking for Mr. Stark. If he’s in trouble we need to get to him early. I will not separate him from you or Mr. Rogers unless there’s no other option.”

“But what about contaminants!” the nurse urged. 

“Nurse. Fired,” Stark said, pointing towards the door. “Leave. Now.”

The SHIELD nurse stalked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I apologize for any and all errors. 
> 
> Women really can carry a baby at 9 months and only appear a little thicker. I’ve known two women in my life that carried in their back A LOT. One could even wear her regular jeans until 8 months along! When she went to delivery I heard the nurse jokingly ask, “Are you sure there’s a baby in there?” Of course that didn’t stop her acting like a drama queen. ::eyeroll::
> 
> Kangaroo Care:  
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_care
> 
> Featured Items:  
> Mulfala is a TOTALLY made up creature by ME!  
> Zen Organic Suit:http://www.theultimategreenstore.com/p-725-zen-cloud-organic-cotton-baby-shirt-long-sleeve.aspx  
> Mickey outfit: http://www.disneystore.com/mickey-mouse-and-pluto-hoodie-with-pants-set-for-baby/mp/1322081/1000229/  
> Blankets: http://www.disneystore.com/mickey-mouse-receiving-blankets-for-baby-3-pack/mp/1315098/1000327/  
> Converse: http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/converse-baby-boy-or-baby-girl-first-star-crib-shoes?ID=348810  
> Eco-friendly diapers: http://www.theultimategreenstore.com/p-2273-g-diapers-g-pants-reusable-diapers-and-inserts-1699-3399.aspx


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

“And this paper, allows for someone, other than yourself, to take custody of the baby in the event of Tony’s death,” Coulson pointed to a line at the bottom of the pages, while Juliet scrutinized the words. 

“I thought Steve was around for that…” Juliet said, casting a look at the men.

Coulson straightened the papers, pointedly not looking at Tony and Steve in their awkward silence. “Since they are not married, Steve has no legal standing in this. If and when he adopts the baby this would allow him custody. Right now, he has as much legal right to the baby as Clint does, and isn’t that a frightening thought?”

Juliet hummed noncommittally, scrawling her name across the bottom of the paper. 

“This paper designates that…” Coulson continued. 

~*~

Tony was busy repairing errors in the Mark VII armor when he got THE call. Juliet’s urgent face appeared on screen. 

She didn’t even have to open her mouth before Tony was running for the elevator. “It’s too early! I had at least three more weeks!” he started. 

“Apparently not,” Juliet countered. “I thought I was just having back pain but it’s non-stop and my water broke about five minutes ago. You owe me new sheets.”

“Whatever you want, Jules,” Tony added. “Jarvis, get Steve up and…”

“Already done, sir. I have also alerted the rest of the team,” Jarvis interrupted. 

Tony quirked an eyebrow, “Why the team?”

“They asked to be informed. Agent Coulson is on the phone to SHEILD doctors and Agent Barton is grabbing the bag of baby items that is prepared. Captain Rogers is waiting at the elevator.”

Juliet grimaced into the camera, losing focus. “You all right?” Tony asked. 

“Mild contraction,” she gritted out. “Calling a cab, going to delivery.”

Tony stepped into the room with an anxious Steve. “Happy is waiting for you downstairs.”

Tony didn’t mention that Happy had been sitting around her apartment building since she had moved to New York. He had been nervous at the idea of anyone finding out about the baby and abducting her. He had had personal security tailing her since fourteen weeks into the pregnancy. 

Coulson was still on the phone when he appeared. “Tony, Steve has a small bag of your things. Pepper has been alerted that you’ll be unavailable until further notice.”

Tony stepped back into the elevator, with Clint, Steve, and Phil close behind him. 

“Why do I need things?” Tony questioned, trying to focus. 

Phil was still talking into the phone, so Clint took over. “Phil ‘presumed’ that if the baby was delivered with complications you would want to stay with them at the hospital.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony nervously shifted his weight.

Clint continued, “Thor is tailing her car, the one that you left outside her apartment, like some paranoid stalker. Natasha is on her way to the hospital, keeping an eye on the staff, not that they can’t be trusted. Bruce is waiting downstairs too.” 

Tony raised an eyebrow at them all.

Clint smirked. “Phil made us practice.”

~*~

Tony drummed fingers on the briefcase at his side as he waited anxiously. Even at three in the morning in New York, it was still not simple to get from one side to the other in a handful of minutes. Thor and Happy had assured an anxious Tony over the com-lines that they were fine. 

When the car pulled up outside, Tony was the first out the door, nearly ripping the door open in his haste. 

“I’m fine, Tony!” Juliet said, holding a hand out as if to fend him off. She levered herself out of the car. 

“Are you sure you’re pregnant?” Tony asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Either that or we are about to witness a live-action version of Alien. Something in there is moving. I’m sure Agent Coulson is prepared for that eventuality.” 

Coulson smiled. “I’m prepared for most eventualities, judging by the sonograms, that particular one seems like a slim possibility.”

Steve tried not to fret on the edge of the circle. He still was unsure of his responsibility in this situation. He had a feeling he was supposed to wrangle Tony. 

A few short moments and they were set up in an exam room, a nurse buzzing around taking measurements. The team had taken up position outside, hiding their anxiety with efficiency. 

“We’ll have a fetal monitor in here in a moment, and we’ll get set up to check and make sure the baby is ready for delivery. The doctor will be in in just a moment.”

Juliet sighed, relaxing against the bed. “Steve. I’m kind of curious… I read that you can hear the baby’s heartbeat if you listen closely. Do you want to try?”

Steve leaned forward in the silence of the room, closing his eyes to concentrate. He could hear the faint whir of Tony’s arc reactor, a familiar sound he could pick up anywhere. He narrowed his attention down to Juliet alone. There was the loud sound of her heartbeat that almost drowned at the other, the quick and faint pit-pat of another heartbeat. He focused harder and he could definitely hear it now, it was an amazing sound. 

“I hear it,” he murmured to Tony. 

The bang of the door opening to admit the nurse and heart monitor startled him but he smiled over at Tony. 

Tony sat back on the couch as they put up a curtain, checking Juliet out. Was he sitting on a couch? He looked at it closely. It could be a day bed. Why would they use a day bed? Did they anticipate needing a bed to stay there that long? Was there something wrong? The curtain was pulled back before Tony could start planning for worst-case scenarios. 

Dr. Stewart’s smile was reassuring. “She’s not very far along, she’s barely dilated a centimeter. Her body is starting but it’s going slowly. I suggested that she take a bit of a nap.” 

Steve materialized at Tony’s shoulder then, his face anxious. “But she’s okay? The baby’s okay?”

“Everything appears fine.” Dr. Stewart grabbed a clipboard and made to leave. “I’ll be just in my office if anything happens. No worries gentlemen, your little boy is on his way.”

“Is he our little boy?” Steve asked, waiting until Dr. Stewart had stepped from the room, not looking at Tony.

Tony sighed, fidgeting with his watch. “I want him to be. I realize that… this… hasn’t been going on long but… yeah.”

“You know? For a genius you’re awfully short on vocabulary,” Steve replied.

“I’m poetic,” Tony countered. “My declarations of love would make Shakespeare weep.”

Steve guffawed before settling. “I think we need a serious conversation.”

“Loveyou. Lovethebaby. Hopeyouwillwanttoadopt,” Tony stuttered out quickly. 

The blonde ran a hand through his hair. He was studiously not commenting on the fact that Tony, for the first time out loud, had admitted to loving him. “Okay. But you do realize that I would then be the father of your son too, right?”

Tony snorted. “Who wouldn’t want freaking Captain America as the father of their baby? Steve Rogers would be the best freaking dad ever. Hell, if I am as smart as I know I am, I would just hand the baby over to you and save this kid from myself.”

“You’ll do great,” Steve chided. He grasped Tony’s hand, pulling him around so they were looking at one another. “So… we’re doing this? Me, you, and baby?”

The billionaire nodded, “Yep. It’s been you and I. Why not throw one more in there?” Steve wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist leaning in to kiss him. 

They sat down on the couch/chair/daybed.

“I kept trying to slow you down, I’m glad I didn’t do such a good job, we would be so far behind.” The nursery had just been finished. 

“We still haven’t picked a name…” Tony muttered. “If we don’t have a name soon we really are going to have to call him Hawkeye Jr… Let’s jot down some names and see if we can come up with a good one.

They were quiet, writing down names at will before they trailed off. “Shall we switch?” Steve asked. 

They scrutinized each other’s names. “So, I guess we’re in agreement?” Tony began.

“James.” Steve smiled. 

“James was Bucky’s name, right? I liked it because it’s his name and Rhodey’s. Rhodey will like that.”

Steve leaned in to kiss Tony’s cheek. “If he gets here and it doesn’t fit him, we’ll go with something else.”

Tony smiled. “James. It’s a good name, right? Yeah. We also need to think of middle names.”

“I’ve got an idea about that…”

“Is everything, okay?” a voice whispered from the vent. 

“Clint! Get out of the vent!” Steve popped open the vent-cover, watching as Barton unfolded himself to the ground. 

“We have ben waiting for over thirty minutes for news, the least we deserve is a heads up,” Clint remarked. “A shout, a text, a smoke signal, something.” 

Tony flipped him off and opened the door. “Steve? You want to stay with Juliet and I’ll update the masses.”

~*~

Tony would never say that he was a patient man. If he wanted something he wanted it now. The past months had been agony while he waited to meet his son, now time had seemed to slow to a crawl, eight hours had gone by since THE phone call. And nothing. Not a peep out of anyone. 

Juliet had invited the waiting Avengers to come in and sit with Tony and Steve. Tony now realized she had done it to keep him occupied, Steve could only keep him still for so long. Bruce was watching the monitors while trying to also read a peer-reviewed journal on neo-natal care. 

Phil was obviously watching the monitors, typing on his StarkPad, while simultaneously trying to keep Clint from going back into the vents. Natasha had taken the chair nearest the door, unmoving. Thor came in and out, updating his Jane, taking the role of shield brother very seriously. 

“Tony and I discussed something that involves all of you, so we’d like your attention.” Clint looked suspicious but came down to crouch on the arm of Coulson’s chair. Phil and Bruce closed their tablets, while Thor and Natasha nodded their heads. 

“We’ve been thinking of names and we both agree on the baby’s first name. In my day, Godparent’s names or maiden names were typically the baby’s middle name. So I thought, well, maybe you guys could come up with some names.”

“Hawkeye Jr.!” Clint shouted instantly. 

“No,” replied the rest of them calmly. 

Clint frowned, “How about Phil Jr.?”

“No,” Phil refuted. “We will talk about this like adults. Everyone should pick a name and we will let Tony and Steve decide. We’re picking names later,” Phil said, halting Clint. 

The room went quiet again, except for the comforting beeps of the two heart monitors. 

~*~

When Dr. Stewart pursed his lips, Tony’s heart plummeted. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked. 

“She should be further along, than she is. I worry that the baby will begin to stress if not more progress is made soon. She’s barely two-centimeters and despite some Pitocin her contractions just aren’t coming along.”

Tony looked around anxiously. “What about… what can be done?” 

Dr. Stewart sat on the stool near Juliet’s bed; he looked at the woman. “We have discussed a C-section and we are starting to edge into the time frame of that being needed. It’s been nearly twelve hours and you’re not moving along. I just don’t think your body is ready for labor but the baby is ready to come.”

“Whatever is going to get the baby out safely is what we’ll do, Doc,” she replied. “I’m not a fan of being cut open but I can handle it… He’s an over-achiever already.” She winked at the two men at her bedside. 

“Or he’s as impatient as his father,” Steve said, smirking. 

Tony glared at both of them. 

~*~

The sharp click-clack of Pepper’s heels on hospital tile drew everyone’s attention. They had all learned to sit up and listen when they heard that particular gait. 

She slipped into the room like a church mouse. “I thought I’d drop by, see how things were.”

“Fantastic,” called Juliet. Steve was rubbing her feet, while she read a magazine. Her epidural was going to go in soon and they were already prepping to go in for a C-section. 

Phil came in a moment later. “Just a heads up, all. The baby has been leaked. Juliet’s name is out of it, but the press knows an Avenger is having a baby. They haven’t narrowed down whom yet, though. Most are guessing Black Widow.”

Natasha cursed in Russian. 

Pepper smiled grimly. “I can get our people started on a press release and then schedule a press conference later.”

Tony nodded his head. “Pick out a middle name, too.” Pepper didn’t even blink, she nodded and she click-clacked her way back out of the room. 

~*~

Tony carefully slid on his scrubs while Steve did the same. Juliet was in the next room over, waiting for the surgery team to get down there. 

“You realize when we walk out of here, we’ll have a baby?” Steve questioned, anxiety leaking into his voice. 

“Yes. We’re as ready as we can be. It’s time to jump at this point.” Tony seemed to nod to himself before pushing open the doors to the operating room. 

~*~

“This is going to move quickly,” Dr. Stewart told them all. “You’ll feel nothing at first and then some pressure, Juliet. I would suggest you not look down here if you’re squeamish, gentlemen.”

Steve and Tony nodded their heads, taking their seats by Juliet’s head. 

“If I don’t get a chance later, Juliet, I’d just like for you to know… Thanks. For this. All of it,” Tony muttered. 

Juliet gripped his hand. “Just raise him right.”

“Here we go, people.” Dr. Stewart began.

Tony and Steve heard some sounds they wished to never hear again but eventually they heard Dr. Stewart suck in a breath and they couldn’t help but look and suddenly the doctor pulled back, his hands full. 

The child squalled as soon as he was clear of his mother. 

“Would you like to cut the cord?” Dr. Stewart asked.

Tony reached for the clips and cut where he was told, they whisked the baby to the side and both men followed eagerly, watching as the pediatrician examined the child quickly. 

“He’s pinking up nicely, but I want to put him on oxygen.” 

“Why is he blue?” Steve asked worriedly, a large hand reaching out to touch the baby before nervously pulling back. 

“It’s fine to touch him, Steve. All babies are born with this tinge; his skin color will even out as he breathes more. You can pick him up if you’d like.”

Steve and Tony reached out but Tony pulled his hands back. They were noticeably shaking. “You should pick him up first, Tony.”

The billionaire shook his head. “No, I’m nervous; I’ll drop him. You do it.”

“Yes, hand the guy with abnormal strength an infant.” Despite his words, Steve leaned close and gently scooped his head and upper back into one hand and his butt and legs with the other. He pulled him in close to his chest trying to keep the baby comfortable and secure. He would never admit to having Jarvis and Agent Coulson help him learn to pick a baby up. 

He lowered his arms down to Tony’s level, letting the man peer at his newborn son. 

“He’s so little. How is it that he’s alive and so little?” Steve murmured. Suddenly, so sudden that Steve nearly flinched, the baby’s eyes blinked open, the blue startling against the black mop of hair. He began to cry out, not loud but obviously unhappy.

“Men, we’re moving to another room, if you’d like to come this way.”

The two men looked back at Juliet, she nodded and waved at the pair, gesturing at them to head off. 

A nurse bustled around the room, telling them that their new son needs skin contact and food and bidding one of them to do the job. The room had a low comfortable bed and Steve waited while Tony stripped off his scrubs and undid his shirt. 

“Now that I’m doing this I’m starting to think this was one of my stupider plans.” He laid down and put a soft blanket over his arc reactor. Steve will never figure out how he managed to maneuver the baby onto Tony’s chest but he did it. He watched as the baby’s hands clenched against Tony’s bare chest. Steve gently covered the nude baby with a blanket, tucking the ends around tiny feet. 

Even Tony’s hands looked large compared to the baby, one hand spanned the tiny back and curled around his ribs.

“How much does he weigh? He can’t be more than 5 pounds, 4.8?” Tony asked.

“I haven’t even weighed him yet,” Dr. John, the pediatrician, stated. “It’s not urgent.” The doctor was using a few instruments here and there to take measurements of the baby.

“He looks good,” the doctor said, placing his chart down on the table. “I’ll leave you guys for a while and I’ll send a nurse in with a bottle.”

The silence was deafening as the door slid shut. “He’s five minutes old,” Steve said, looking at his phone. “Five minutes… How do I take a picture again?”

“Double click, photo icon, hit the button with camera on it,” Tony reminded gently. He smiled as Steve angled the camera towards him. Steve snapped a lot of photos, muttering about how tiny.

Tony laughed when he heard the word “cute”, the baby rode the jostling, his eyes closed again. “Did you just say the baby was cute?”

“He is!” Steve defended. “How can something this little not be cute?”

The dark haired man ran a hand through the long black hair that so matched his own, it was abnormally long for such a young baby, still drying from his wipe down. 

Tony pulled out his own camera and beckoned Steve over. “Lean down so I can take a picture of all of us.”

He waited until Steve was in the frame before snapping a photo. “I’m sending out that one.”

“Jarvis,” he muttered into the phone. “Text that last photo to the regulars, even Fury.”

“I’m on it, sir. And may I say, he’s a handsome little one,” the crisp British tone let his adoration leak through. Sometimes Tony wondered if Jarvis was more human than he was. 

Steve stroked a finger through the baby’s downy hair. The nurse came in just then with a tiny bottle in hand. “He’s probably going to be hungry fairly soon, if not already. Which one of you would like to feed him?”

Tony didn’t hesitate. “Steve wants too.” He scooted over on the bed to make room for the other man.”

Steve tugged open his shirt, and they carefully scooted the baby onto his chest. The baby lay angled between Steve’s arm and chest. 

“Do you see that mouth movement?” the nurse said. “That’s the baby searching for food. It’s the ideal time to try to get them on a bottle. Wipe the nipple on his lip before allowing him to latch.” Steve followed her directions, sucking in a breath when the baby seemed to suddenly take the bottle, sucking hard. 

The nurse congratulated them before telling them she would be back in a few. “Look the baby’s eyes are open again!” Steve pointed out, while Tony snapped pictures. 

“You know we are going to have to start calling him James,” Tony remarked, sending off another flurry of photos. “Unless you don’t think it suits him now?”

Steve leaned down and kissed the tiny head. “James is a good name. Huh, James? Do you like it? I think that means yes.” James’ eyes had slipped closed again.

Tony smiled at the replies to his photos. Even Fury had sent along congratulations, probably planning how the baby could be added to the Initiative. “Everyone wants to know when they can come in?”

“I think after he’s fed and burped we should let them in to check him over,” Steve muttered. The sucking seemed to have faded off as James fell asleep. 

The nurse came in again. “Well, James has had enough, but he’ll need to be eating every two hours at least. Shall we burp him?”

Tony took the reigns and held the tiny bundle close, listening attentively as the nurse told him how to gently rub and pat his back, until he appeared to have woken up and spit up some milk. James cried out again, simmering down when Tony snuggled him close. 

“You’re a natural,” the nurse commented before leaving again. 

“Are you ready for this, bubba?” Steve asked, running a finger over a tiny head, stopping only when he reached Tony’s chest. The baby appeared lit by the reactor, his tiny hand curling at it, rubbing. 

Tony sighed. “I guess the others will be coming through the vents if we don’t let them in the doors soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is not medically accurate. I don’t know the intricacies of premature babies (only one C-section) but, sadly or not, I’ve had a few premature babies in my family and have only experienced it on the having to visit the NICU level. I do know that in my area (Northern California) if the baby is over 4 pounds they are considered okay to go home. Crazy, right? Plus, this is the Marvel Universe… I do what I want.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

Chapter 7

Bruce, surprisingly, was the first one through the door. His shy smile was gone, in its place, a professional mask of a man that had treated many newborn babies. “Any problems?” he asked quickly.

“Healthy,” Tony replied. “Apgar score of seven. Some cyanosis. Ate 2 ounces of breast milk. 120 BPM.”

Bruce nodded, snapping up James’ chart. “Good, all good.”

Phil was smiling, which threw Tony off of any witty comment he could make. He was shaking Steve’s hand and studying the baby. “That’s a lot of hair,” he commented. 

“He looks just like me!” Clint crowed, peering around Bruce’s shoulder. “Except not.”

Natasha peered down at the baby as Bruce moved away. James’ eyes came open under the scrutiny, his own light blue orbs meeting her green ones. “Good.”

She stepped back to allow Pepper in. Pepper had her arms out already, not hesitating in pulling the baby to her chest, cooing. 

“Look how little you are! So tiny!” She deftly wrapped a blanket about his back. Thor stepped up and looked at him. 

“He has a strong spirit,” he said with a wisdom not often found in his voice, not appearing to talk to anyone in particular. James perked up at the low, deep tones, his eyes sliding to Thor. “You will be as mighty as your fathers.”

Thor tapped the tiny forehead with one large forefinger, before leaving to inform the Lady Jane of this miracle. 

“Lord, Tony. This is one pretty baby.” Pepper shuffled back over to the bed before laying the babe in Phil’s arms. 

Phil’s arms moved automatically, the uncle to a few nieces and nephews knew how to cradle a newborn. “So little,” Phil smiled down at the baby, gesturing for Clint to come and take him. 

“No way, I don’t hold babies. Call me when he can order a beer.” Clint hopped on top of a cabinet, keeping a safe distance. 

Bruce was forcibly handed the baby by Natasha, his anxiety at holding anything so small and delicate was palatable. Briefly his mind flashed to the idea of him Hulk-ing out with baby in hand. He calmed himself, letting the baby settle naturally in his arms. 

“Did he eat easily?” Bruce asked, cautiously rocking the infant.

Steve nodded. “He didn’t eat a lot according to the nurse, but since he’s a few weeks premature they expected it.”

“We need to handle the press release soon,” Pepper reminded them. “The world knows about you and Steve, now we need to include James.”

Bruce handed Steve back the baby, watching as the baby snuggled to Steve’s chest before falling asleep once more. 

“They’ll let him go once they confirm that he’s healthy and whole. He’s probably almost five pounds,” Bruce said, grabbing a chart. 

“He’s got to be 4.8 pounds, I’m sure of it. A true engineer can weigh something with their hands.”

The group rolled their eyes. Dr. John came back in with a rolling cart. “We need to get him sorted out so that we can finalize the paperwork, gentlemen.”

Steve stood and laid a quiet James down onto the scale, ignoring Tony’s triumphant hoot when it measured James at 4.83 pounds. They watched as James submitted to all the tests with a squirm. Both parents cringed when a long needle was produced. 

“This is always the worst part,” the doctor informed them when they questioned the needle. Clint was the most vehement about not using that on a baby, he was sure there had to be something more appropriately sized. 

The needle slid and James let out a wail, kicking his legs and crying. Tony was coming unglued at the distress radiating off his son. Only Steve’s controlling hand kept him from ripping James away. When the doctor pulled away though, Steve was the first to pick him up. 

“I’m so sorry, bubba,” Steve cooed. He let the boy cuddle again, hoping his cries would calm and the team would be able to relax. He muttered nonsense at the boy until he quieted again. 

Bruce had disappeared, for everyone’s safety, and came back with a bottle. “It’s probably a good time for him to eat again, while he’s this awake.”

Tony took a turn feeding James, watching closely as the baby mouthed the bottle. 

~*~

They signed a billion forms before being released from care that afternoon. Hill, Sitwell, and even Fury himself came to take a gander at the baby. Tony’s wrist was actually sore from the paperwork before he was allowed to take his son home. 

Steve was carrying the baby seat easily in one hand, careful not to jostle a sleeping James. They made one final stop before leaving. 

Tony waved Steve to wait outside as he entered quietly. “Hey, Juliet.”

She looked up from her laptop with a light smile. “Tony, how’s it going?”

The billionaire couldn’t hold back his wide grin. “It’s good. Steve’s good, James is good, life’s good right now. I would’ve brought him in but didn’t know if you would want to see him.”

Juliet paused for a moment. “I would. Just to make sure he’s okay.”

Tony waved Steve to enter. 

She smiled shyly at the tiny baby, caressing a tiny foot with the tip of a finger. “He’s cute. Pretty small though.”

James cried out suddenly, making small whimpering sounds that drew the attentions of his fathers. “Shh,” Steve hummed, placing a large hand across the baby’s chest. James quieted again, comforted. 

“You’re a natural,” she said to Steve. “You’re going to do great.”

~*~

On top of SHIELD headquarters, Clint started the jet and waited for the team to board. Both fathers were anxious about the flight, for very different reasons. 

“Are you sure it’s safe for the baby to fly this early?” Steve questioned, looking to Bruce and Phil. 

“I’m sure,” Bruce stated. Coulson nodded his approval. 

Tony sighed, running an anxious finger down James’ face. “What if we crash?”

“It’s a three minute flight, if aliens invade we’ll be safer in the air then on the ground and this is the best way to avoid press. Plus, flying is safer than driving.” Clint’s voice rang over the intercom over the plane. He wasn’t insulted by the questions. He was nervous himself, already imagining the plane spinning wildly out of control. He realized the level of trust that Tony, Steve, and the team were placing in his hands and he had to keep himself from shaking. 

The plane rose, turning towards Stark Tower in the distance, leveling out quickly. James seemed to perk up at the change, his eyes huge and round, seeming to smirk around the pacifier in his mouth. 

“He likes it!” Tony called, snapping another photo. The plane touched down a second later and no one mentioned the collective sigh of breath they let out as the jet powered down. 

“This is your captain speaking, I have disengaged the seat belt sign and it is now safe to exit the plane. I think I speak for the flight crew when we congratulate Baby James Stark on his first flight,” Clint cackled a little as he turned his chair around and led the way for the disembarking Avengers and company. 

~*~

The group mostly dispersed as they made their way to the nursery to put James down. It took a few moments for them to maneuver James into the bassinet. They both stared down at the little bundle, a little unsure of what to do. 

“So, Captain, what do we do now?” Tony asked. 

Steve raised an eyebrow and looked down at the sheet in his hand. “The schedule says we should wake him in a little while to feed him, he will probably need to be changed then too.”

Tony looked at the paper too. “Meanwhile we…?”

“I don’t know. What say we get him in that baby sling? They say that if he learns to sleep with noise and movement around him, he’ll be a hardier sleeper. We can use the bassinet in the main room if it gets too hard. We should… I don’t know… go on about our lives.”

“I can’t go down to the workshop,” Tony began. 

Steve looked over at his boyfriend. “We should order some pizza, watch a movie, and, well, enjoy.”

“Sounds good! Jarvis inform the others,” Tony ordered, he scooped the baby into the sling again and tried to walk, stopping every time James shifted, stretching a leg and kicking around before getting comfortable again. “Help me tighten the strap, I think he’s swinging too much.”

It took them nearly twenty minutes but they finally made it back downstairs. The main room had been equipped with a playpen-bassinet for the baby. By the time they had arrived, pizza was almost there and they had selected a movie. 

They all settled down on the couches warily, as Natasha went to fetch the pizzas. 

They were dead silent for a long few minutes before Clint burst out, “Oh my God, people! It’s a baby, not a bomb! He’s going to think he’s deaf if we keep doing this. Turn the T.V. on and freaking relax already. I need a beer!” 

The room laughed quietly as Jarvis oblinginly turned on the movie they had planned to watch. 

Natasha scoffed, “Says the man who’s too frightened to hold the baby.”

“Some days Clint seems the wisest of us all,” Bruce remarked with a wry grin.

“Damn straight,” Clint replied as he came back with a six pack. He hopped the edge of the couch, landing in a sit next to Coulson. 

They settled down into something of a normal event after that. The revelry only broken by a quiet cry from the crib as James woke once again, Steve moved to grab the bottle while Tony leaned the fussy baby against his chest. He still thought the skin contact thing was a bit odd, but science was always reliable. 

James quieted, while they waited for Steve to return. 

“Does anyone else find the whole breast milk thing a bit weird?” Clint asked, breaking the awkward silence. “How did you get your hands on that?” He squawked as Natasha shoved him to the floor. 

“It’s not black market, you weirdo! There are reputable organizations that do this and I am donating in exchange.” Tony stroked his son’s tiny head, running a finger down his spine. Blue eyes watched him closely, mouth moving to find food. 

“And here’s a bottle,” Steve said, coming into the room. “Tested and everything.” 

James took the bottle without hesitation, seeming to sigh as he pulled on the bottle. He seemed to fall asleep halfway through his mandatory four ounces of liquid. 

“Oh, come on, kid! You pass out after a 3-ounce drink? That’s embarrassing!” Tony tried to wake him but the baby was not going to stir. 

Bruce came in then. “I hear if you lean him out on your arm, rather than keep them close to your chest, they’re less likely to fall asleep. Why not try moving him to wake him up and finish?” 

Tony shifted him carefully, trying to work laying the baby out and holding the bottle at the same time. True to Bruce’s word, James came awake, kicking fitfully before settling back onto the bottle, finally finishing. 

“Score!” Tony said, holding out a fist for Bruce to bump. “Science!” Bruce rolled his eyes but they knocked fists anyway. 

Steve burped the little boy before settling him back to sleep, tucking him inside his shirt like a kangaroo. He shuddered at the thought that this baby, his… son, was about the same size as his hand. Spread apart, his pinky curled over the diaper and his thumb could easily touch James’ ear.

The movie resumed and James stayed asleep. 

~*~

That night Tony turned on the sound soother as Steve put James down to sleep, choosing a heartbeat noise. It was Steve’s heartbeat to be exact but Steve didn’t know that, and Tony wasn’t going to tell him. 

“Do we really have to leave?” Tony asked. He was incredibly anxious, leaving James by himself seemed like the worst idea ever. 

Steve sighed, he did not want to leave anymore than Tony did. “If we don’t do it now, we won’t ever do it. We have the best baby monitor in the world. Plus, a sneaking feeling tells me that we are not the only ones going to be checking on him tonight. Jarvis, you’ll keep an eye on him right?”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis said. “Nothing will go beyond my notice.”

“Okay... Okay. We can do this,” Tony leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on James’ head. “Jarvis, I’m counting on you. He is priority one, if anything seems even a little different than it is right now, get us. Note any movement and send it to me in updates.”

“I will watch after young Master James, sir.”

Tony ran a hand through his hair, there was little that he didn’t trust his technology with but this might be one of them. “Okay.” Tony left without a backwards glance, forcing himself to keep going towards the front room. 

“Is he asleep?” Phil asked as they returned. 

“Yep,” Tony replied, trying and failing to appear calm and cool. 

Steve patted him on the back, inside he was boiling with anxiety too. What if Jarvis missed something? 

“Well, I guess it’s time for another present,” Phil said, taking a box from Clint’s arms. “I’m not trying to insult you, Jarvis. You do an excellent job but if Jarvis gets shutdown, this won’t.”

Phil handed over a box, containing a new baby monitor. “I think it would be a good idea to have something not connected to Jarvis, in case he is unable to alert us.”

“No offense, Jarvis! I love you, man. But a back-up can’t hurt anything,” Clint said.

“No offense taken, a secondary, independent system is prudent.”

Phil nodded. “The range isn’t good enough to reach your workshop but there’s one for the kitchen, your room, and the gym.”

Tony grimaced. “I would be insulted… but if Jarvis was shutdown, we’ll need it.”

~*~

They all stayed up until Jarvis informed them, projecting the feed from James’ room, that he was awake and had proceeded to cry. Tony and Steve took off, leaving the others to finally slink off to bed. 

“I’m so glad his cries aren’t those annoying baby ones. You know, really high pitched and loud? His cries are almost quiet,” Clint said, as he followed the others to the elevator. 

Bruce nodded. “Yes, it’s not bad.”

“Let’s just hope it stays that way,” Natasha commented. 

They separated to their respective areas. 

~*~

Tony smiled as he watched the video feed from last night. He would never tell anyone that he had smiled but nobody was able to witness it anyway. 

Clint was the first one to come after they had left the baby again. He didn’t touch James, he peered in the crib asking Jarvis if he was okay. Jarvis confirmed before the SHIELD agent hopped back up into the vents and disappeared. 

Phil was five minutes behind him, presumably looking for Clint. A gentle finger touched James’ chest, while Phil took his pulse. He walked out after a few moments. 

An hour went by before Bruce came in, he asked Jarvis a lot of questions, before deciding that James really was okay. He didn’t touch the boy but did move his blanket a little higher on his chest.

An hour or two later, he awoke, making noise and Tony came in again, alone this time. He asked Jarvis to find the next section. 

Thor was the next into the room, his eyes a little bleary and still in his boxers, at least he had put a shirt on. He had asked Jarvis one simple question, “He sleeps?”

“Yes, Thor, all is well,” Jarvis had replied. That was all Thor needed, a light touch to his head and he left. 

Clint came back in again, not completely but his head came through a vent before he disappeared again. 

Natasha was the last to show up, right after the second feeding that night. Steve had gotten up for that one. She crouched at the edge of the crib, viewing James through the bars. She nearly jumped when he kicked his legs out, shifting his weight to fall deeper asleep. She reached out to lay a hand on James’ belly. She said something quiet in Russian before slipping out again. 

“Translate that, Jarv.” 

“She said, ‘I will kill for you’,” Jarvis answered. “Maybe not the best sentiment but the meaning behind it was clear.”

Tony hummed to himself, before falling back asleep. Their team would keep James safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: I know this is not medically accurate. I don’t know the intricacies of premature babies but, sadly or not, I’ve had a few premature babies in my family (one by C-section) and have only experienced it on the having to visit the NICU level. I do know that in my area (Northern California) if the baby is over 4 pounds they are considered okay to go home. Crazy, right? Plus, this is the Marvel Universe… I do what I want.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally get together, before things fall apart on them again when a fling of Tony's comes up pregnant. Will they sink? Or can they swim?

Chapter 8

~*~

The next morning no one mentioned going to check on James and all inquired about how he slept. Tony was still asleep, having spent most of the night up to watch James anyway and Steve had taken much joy in getting James up after he had gone for an early morning run. Forcing himself out the door to go for a jog had been hard and he had cut it short but he had to stick to a schedule. 

Clint had made French toast, while Steve fed James, holding him tightly to his chest. Tony came down once the table had been set, for once not going straight to the coffee but veering towards Steve and James. 

“Is he okay?” Tony asked, looking at the little boy happily sucking away.

Steve nodded, “Just fine.”

“Breakfast is on!” Clint called, biding Thor to help him carry pans to the table. 

Tony placed the bouncer down by his seat, letting the baby recline. 

“All he does is eat and sleep,” Clint remarked once the team had dug in. 

Bruce nodded. “That and messing his diaper is really all he’s supposed to do at this point. Let’s enjoy this because soon enough it’s going to be him crawling.”

Steve pushed the bouncer a little, sending vibrations through the chair; James didn’t stir.

It was quiet in the home most of the morning. Tony had fallen into a light doze watching the baby, while Steve went to the gym. James was such a quiet baby, only crying when he was hungry or wanted a change. He always settled when he was picked up. They tried wrapping him up like a “burrito” as Tony called it but the boy refused to keep his legs still, preferring to kick and squirm free of the blanket. Nobody had yet to point out that they had expected this out of a baby of Tony’s.

He snorted awake at the click-clack of Pepper’s heels and Jarvis’ quiet announcement. 

“This is what the PR people were thinking for your press release.” She handed over a StarkPad. “I’ve also got a photographer waiting in the wings to do baby photos. I thought maybe you’d like to take photos and have the proceeds donated to the Maria Stark Foundation or something. I also have another waiting to take photos not for a magazine. He needs baby photos. Now let me hold him…”

She dipped her hands into the bouncer and pulled the little boy into her arms. “He’s so beautiful. I love all this hair and those eyes. Are you my favorite little boy? Yes!” She cooed and rocked the boy and he delighted in the attention, snuggling his face into her neck. 

“You’re going to be a good mom, Pep,” Tony stated. 

“Well, I helped raise you. You do realize I’m going to play dress-up with him and I expect to be called Auntie Pepper.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Of course, you’re my… Pepper. And you can dress him up as much as you want. I’ve already got a 3-piece suit for him, custom. Did you know they have baby vintage t-shirts? And baby Converses? Steve somehow managed to find baby plaid shirts and khakis but whoever gets him dressed gets to pick clothes unless it’s an event.”

Steve came in then, sweaty. “How’s our boy?” 

“He’s so adorable, Steve,” Pepper said. “You two need to talk about what you want to do for a photo spread for him. I have the photo shoot scheduled for tomorrow here. They will have to leave the camera here and they are sworn to secrecy. It’s our regular Stark press photographer. The day after I have a more artistic photographer coming for family photos. I need a picture of this little guy.” She held up her cell phone and snapped a picture of him. She handed the baby over to Steve.

Tony was looking over the press release. “I want it stated that both Steve and I are raising James together.” 

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure you and Steve were okay with that,” Pepper said, adding a few lines to the release. “A journalist is also going to come over and write a blurb to go along with the photos. Nothing goes out without our approval though.” 

“We trust you, Pepper,” Steve added. 

Pepper nodded at them, she stood on her toes to leave a kiss on his cheek, leaving one last kiss on James head. She left with another click of her heels. 

“Should I go down to my workshop?” Tony asked. “Is it too early? I don’t want to leave him but I don’t want to be a helicopter dad either.” 

“I’ll watch him for a few hours, why don’t you have Jarvis call you up for his next feeding. Make sure you decontaminate, too.” 

~*~

Rhodey called in the afternoon, as Tony was half buried in a project and half thinking about James. 

“Where’s the kid?” Rhodey asked, looking around the workshop from his view in the camera phone. “You haven’t even told me his name!” 

“Give me one minute, I’ll clean up and take the camera to him.”

Five minutes later, Tony was upstairs in a fresh shirt and clean hands. “Steve, Rhodey wants to meet our boy. Although if he was a good best friend he would be here in person. Jarvis throw the video conference to the TV and zoom the camera in on my boy.”

“I called as soon as I could Tony and I texted yesterday. I’m kind of in an active war zone and wanted to have a secure line. Now show me my nephew!” Rhodey demanded. 

“You’re in luck,” Steve said. “He’s awake.”

They held the camera over James’ face, smiling as the little boys eyes rolled over to the camera, staring. “Meet James Stark,” Tony introduced.

“James?” Rhodey asked.

“Well, James is the name of our best friends so we thought it suited him pretty well.”

Rhodey’s smile was wide. “Wow, that’s just… wow. I’m honored. Wow. He’s a good-looking kid too. Look at that hair! That’s all Stark right there. I’ve sent along some gifts for him. I’ll be in the area next week and I’ll come by to see him.”

“Okay, Rhodey,” Tony answered. 

“Thanks for calling, Colonel,” Steve added. 

Rhodey shook his head. “No, thanks for letting me see him. Bye, James! Listen to your dads and I’ll see you kid!” He waved at the camera before it blackened out. 

~*~

After dinner, they sat around watching TV again. Tomorrow the press release would go out, announcing James’ birth and his parent situation. The press was already aware something was up and was hoping to snap a photo. As of tomorrow, the paparazzi would be swarming around the tower and following anyone that could possibly know something. Even Phil needed to start taking precautions.

“Tomorrow, we have a photographer coming by to take pictures of James for a magazine. A writer will be here too. We’ll keep them out of your areas, you can come watch if you want though.” Steve didn’t like the idea of having to take photos just to satisfy the masses, it was annoying. 

Tony added, “I wouldn’t go out the front door either if you can avoid it. Press has been swarming.” 

He swept up James in his arms. “They just want a picture of you, J-man!” 

He walked innocently over near Clint, leaning down so the other man couldn’t stand up and quickly laid the boy into Clint’s arms. He ignored the archer’s squeak of horror. 

“Tony!? Oh, my God!” Clint was frozen, trying not to shift. “He’s moving, Tony! He’s moving! I’m going to drop him. Phil, get him!” 

Phil rolled his eyes, looking over he pushed James’ leg back onto Clint’s arms. “He’s fine. Relax, if he thinks your panicking he’s going to cry and if he cries you will need to solve it.”

“How do I relax? He could cry! Or poop!” This was the closest any of them had seen Clint to panicking and they’d seen him plunge from a fifteen story building, with only the hope of a grappling arrow to save him. 

Natasha met his eyes from across the room. “I will slap you.”

Phil grabbed his free hand, and forced him to scoop James’ head. “Pull him against your chest. Don’t let his head roll.”

“He’s snuggling me!” Clint said, with a half-smile, as James rubbed his nose into his neck. 

“Good, that means he’s awake enough for a feeding,” Steve handed him a bottle before plopping down in a seat.

Clint shook his head, trying to hand the bottle to Phil while keeping a firm hold on James. “Has the shine worn off him already?” Clint asked, trying to guilt Steve into feeding him.

“I feed him all the time, one benefit of the serum, is I don’t need to sleep that much, so I get to feed him more than Tony.” Steve didn’t fall for it. “I think it’s time for his uncle to give him a bottle. 

Steve reached over to help him arrange James. “Angle him against your chest and, oops, don’t squish his arm. Then, touch the bottle and there you go.”

“Why does he keep looking at me?” Clint asked, staring back.

Tony shrugged. “He’s interested.”

~*~

Right on time, the photographer showed and began to set up. Tony frowned at the over-eager look on his face. He was the same one that did photography for all of Stark Industries but he had to know what these photographs meant. 

Tony snatched the camera from Pepper’s hands and looked it over, checking for any wireless transmitters. 

Tony would never admit to how pleased he was to see Clint across the room, sitting on a chair and watching every movement. He was spinning a knife on his fingertips. Instead of thanking Clint he slapped the man on the shoulder with a nod. The archer nodded back, not looking away. 

The photographer looked unnerved as he set up another light. “Why is he staring at me?” he asked, as Tony set the camera down near him. 

Tony gave him an evil smirk, “He’s interested... Just don’t make any sudden movements. He’s got remarkable aim.”

Steve came down stairs a moment later, James tucked into a sling. 

They had tried on a lot of clothes on James before settling on a simple blue onesie that said, “Made with Love (And Science!)” and had a large atom on it. It was scientifically inaccurate but Tony liked it anyway. Tony had tried to gel a Mohawk into James’ hair but Steve had shot him down and combed it neatly into place. 

They laid James down on his bopper that they were going to photograph him in. Steve nervously twitched as the stylist arranged James’ clothes and limbs. Fortunately, the boy slept on. They began snapping photos, changing the lighting before finally settling in. 

After what felt like a few hundred, the photographer asked, “Can we wake him up?”

Steve nodded, and ran a finger down the baby’s foot hoping to tickle him awake. The little boys’ eyes came open and the photographer started again. James’ eyes closed again as he wriggled. 

“Let’s get a few photographs of you holding him and this would be a good time to switch outfits,” the PR agent added. He stepped forward to pick James’ up but Steve stepped in quickly. 

“I’ll get him,” Steve said, taking the boy in his arms and quickly changing him into the "Future Genius" suit that Bruce had found for him. 

Tony stepped up to put a hand against James’ back. The photographer snapped a photo. 

“That’s a good one, his eyes were wide open.” 

Tony took James in his arms, turning him towards the camera. He couldn’t help but smile as James leaned his head against his chin; he hoped his beard didn’t irritate his skin. Steve made to step away but Pepper halted him. 

“Nope, everyone’s in the photo,” Pepper ordered. “Stand behind Tony.”

It took a few more minutes but they eventually had enough photos of James and they settled down to answer questions with Clint glaring on. Clint took the camera the second the photographer was done and started going through photos. 

“So what’s your schedule with James?” she asked. She was acting much more professional than the photographer had and Tony appreciated it.

Tony looked to Steve. “Well, mind that we’ve only had two days with him but we definitely split the work. I get up before Tony usually, which means I get James out of bed. I get him breakfast.”

Tony cut in. “I’m usually downstairs for breakfast and take over from there while Steve goes to train. We’ll have to figure something out when we need to train together. It’s really no set “care” schedule, you know, we’re not a 1950’s TV couple. Sometimes we’re together to watch him and sometimes not. We do stick to the same feeding and sleep schedule. We know James isn’t going to have a typical childhood but we think it’s going to be pretty awesome.”

The journalist wrote a few notes, “And what type of baby is he?”

“I don’t want to jinx us but he seems like a pretty quiet baby. He sleeps and…” James let out a cry then, he was hungry but a little early for his feeding. “One second, it’s lunch time for him.”

She smiled at the men. “Sure, sure.”

Clint was slipping back into the room with a bottle in hand; the men were a little unnerved at not noticing the archer leave and return. “He looked like he was waking,” Clint answered the unasked question.

“It looks like you have a lot of support,” the journalist started again.

Tony took James and gave him a bottle with a new ease. 

Steve nodded. “Incredible support. They have our backs and are the most attentive aunts and uncles you could ask for.”

“Plus, who wouldn’t want the Avengers as a family? It’s like every kid’s dream, like running away to the circus,” Tony smirked over at Clint. Clint flipped him off when the reporter looked away.

“He’s got a very expressive face,” the lady said, leaning in to look at the freshly burped James. 

James stared back at her with an almost raised eyebrow. “He takes after Tony there,” Steve laughed. “He’s a squirmy baby. I have a feeling he will be walking in a few short weeks. He’s always looking around and kicking.”

“And that hair? That definitely screams Tony Stark.” 

Tony nodded. “With great genius comes great hair.” 

“What do you see in his future?” she asked. 

They both sighed at this. “Right now, we’re trying to focus on the present. We want to enjoy him as he is because, the future is going to come fast,” Steve began. 

“I think we both just planning to show him the world and try to raise him as a good kid. The kind of kid that people look at and go, “I want my kid to be like him,” Tony continued. 

She smiled at that. “That’s a great plan. Do you feel you’ve changed at all since he was born?”

“I don’t know about Steve, but it does feel like the world has shifted. Before it was building and creating and the team. Now it feels like that James has come in and busted those priorities wide open, he’s made himself his own niche in all those things. Already, I’m making him a spot in my workshop and the team has taken him in like one of their own. He’s slid his way in; I don’t feel like he’s pushed those aside he’s just become a part of them. I’ve realized I can re-do a circuit board and bounce his rocker at the same time.”

Steve nodded in agreement. “Right, it just feels like he’s added himself in. He came down to the gym with me this morning, and he rocked while I worked out across the room. He can lie in the sling while I sketch. I’d say it’s only going to get smoother but I don’t want to get too confident.”

“Smart.” She scribbled down a few more moments. “One final question, what do you say in response to the questions of his mother?”

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “She and I had a relationship before Steve and I got together. When we separated, on good terms, we were unaware she was pregnant. Steve and I got together in the interim. When she found out she was pregnant, she called me. With Steve’s support, we decided to raise the child as our own. She, while a wonderful woman, had not been planning to be a mother.” Tony had rehearsed that a dozen times, knowing the question would be asked at one point or another. 

“Okay, I think I have enough to create an article. I’ll forward it along when it’s ready. A pleasure to meet all three of you.” Steve shook her hand and showed her out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featured Items:  
> If you have never bought from ThinkGeek you are deprived.   
> Made With Love: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e74b/  
> "Future Genius" http://www.cafepress.com/mf/35778270/future-genius_bodysuit


	9. Chapter 9

Later that night, they watched as social media and the television exploded with news of “Baby Stark” or “Iron Baby”. Tony didn’t like either moniker. 

He took to Twitter and tweeted: “News people: His name is James, not Baby Stark. #JamesStark #TonyStark #IronMan #CaptainAmerica.

He was met with a flurry of responses but ignored them all. He knew it was only time before the religious zealots would go all “fire and brimstone” over him, Tony “Merchant of Death” Stark raising his illegitimate son with his boyfriend. Never mind that he had corrupted Captain America. 

Steve turned the TV off when the weirdoes began to appear, making a case that Bruce shouldn’t watch and it would just upset everyone anyway.

Bruce took James when Tony held him up in offering; he smiled at the little boy that snuggled in his hands, giving him a bottle when Steve tossed it over. 

“So have you guys all decided on your choice for a middle name? Pepper sent hers over, so we decided we would read through them all and select the one we like best. Don’t write your name, just drop it anonymously, so we select because the name is cool not because of who’s my best friend.”

“Tony, your best friend on the team changes more often than you change your underwear,” Bruce rebutted. 

“False… I go commando.” He waggled his eyebrows at Bruce.

“We’ve discussed TMI, Tony. That was an over-share.”

~*~

Later that night they were going through the names and Tony admitted he couldn’t choose. 

He sighed, tossing the name back in the pile. “I love all these names. I’m starting to like Edwin more than James… But I like the sentiment behind James more.”

Steve nodded. “I like them all too. Timur? That’s a bit weird but it makes sense. I like Elias too. It’s a classic. I knew a kid on my block named Elias. Gawain is cool too, and that had to be Clint. Who else would want James to have the middle name meaning “little hawk”? I like Gawain.”

“I have an idea.” 

Steve groaned, Tony’s ideas usually ended in a headache. 

~*~

“Morning all!” Tony called, when he entered, Steve on his heels. James was transferred to his rocker, where Coulson took over the duty of talking to the baby while Bruce heated the bottle. 

“Someone slept well,” Natasha commented. “Making Steve get up for all the night feedings?”

Tony shook his head. “Nope, we just didn’t go to bed. We were picking a middle name. Agent, if you wouldn’t mind?” He held out the bottle Bruce handed him.

The others leaned forward to hear the chosen name. “So, is it Hawkeye Jr.?” Clint asked eagerly. 

“Yes… and no,” Steve said mysteriously. 

“Steve, do the honors,” Tony asked around his cup of coffee.

Steve pointed to the boy in Phil’s arms. “His full name is now, officially, James Edwin Gawain Timur Jensen Elias Magni Gregori Stark-Rogers.”

“You gave him ALL the names?” Bruce asked. “Isn’t that child cruelty?”

“Use ALL the names!” Clint said, holding up a broom. 

“Nay, a child named many names is known to be loved by many people,” Thor said. “His name is as legendary as his future.”

Steve nodded. “We spent most of the night talking about order of names.”

Clint looked confused. “Wait a second, my ‘maths’ are not so good but four Avengers plus one handler plus one Pepper equals six. Where did the seventh come from?” 

“That was my selection, Agent Barton,” Jarvis slid in. “Sir asked me if I would pick a name and I’ve always been partial to Gregori, it means watchful and alert, much like myself.”

Clint nodded. “Sorry, I forgot about you, Jarv.”

The lights dimmed briefly in acknowledgement. “I was as surprised as you to be asked for a contribution.”

~*~

Tony was still stunned at how easily James fit into their lives in just a few short days. The magazine article was due out next week and they had managed to net millions of dollars for rights to the article and ensuing pictures. They had selected as the main photo one of a smiling Tony holding James, his bright blue eyes looking at the camera while Steve stood on their other side, looking on at both of them. 

James had also adjusted to being a tower member with ease. He was never on the same schedule of caretakers and there was never a shortage of willing Avengers or friends to take over babysitting. Tony and Steve had yet to actually leave the tower at the same time but they were building to it. Even being two minutes away by elevator made them a bit nervous. 

They knew soon they would be called out, for a mission or invasion and while plans were in place he was still anxious at the idea of leaving his son. There was a list of approved caregivers allowed to take care of James and Steve and Tony were firm that if no one was available, they would not leave. 

James spent his days with various members of the team. He was never more content though then when he was with Tony or Steve. He calmed the quickest for them and seemed to perk up when he heard their voices. 

However, the first to get him to smile had been Coulson and Tony was still a little peeved about that. Bruce had tried to convince him that it was just a reflex smile but Agent still got to see it first hand and had caused it, purposefully or not.

He had been tickling James’ hands and letting the little boy grasp his finger when he just smiled at Coulson, pulling at a finger. 

“He smiled at me!” Phil said suddenly. 

Tony turned so quickly, his StarkPad hit the ground. “No, he didn’t.” His son’s face was once more placid. 

“Yes, he did,” Coulson argued. “Jarvis?”

“I do believe that was a smile,” Jarvis confirmed. He played a video of James glancing around before looking straight at Coulson and smiling, kicking his feet and pulling.

Tony growled, “Damn it.” 

“Look, he’s smiling again!” Coulson exclaimed. Clint was peering over his shoulder and grinning back at the little boy. 

“Yep,” Clint said, brushing a foot. 

Tony shoved his way in and looked down at the little boy but there was no smile, not even when he tickled his hands too. “Damn it,” he said again. 

“It’s a sarcastic smile,” Tony said as he stomped off to his workshop. 

~*~

“Oh, don’t be jealous, Tony,” Steve said, bringing James into the workshop.

“I’m not jealous,” Tony mumbled, tearing into the repulsor around the boots in suit. “He likes Agent better.”

Steve laughed bringing James closer when the power flickered off around the piece of the suit. “There is no way, he likes Agent Coulson more than you. You’re his dad. He just happened to smile at Coulson. Bruce says it’s a reflex, something babies do to ensure their survival. He doesn’t have to smile at you, you’re his daddy, isn’t that right, bubba?”

James made a noise, looking over at Tony. Tony pouted, turning his back, James cried out louder, upset. 

“I’m sorry, baby,” Tony said, whipping back around and grabbing for James. “I’m not mad at you.” 

He kissed James’ head and rocked him, leaving a greasy handprint on his blanket. 

“I know I shouldn’t be jealous but I…” Tony didn’t finish.

Steve softened towards Tony. “I know. I want to be there too. We have to realize that… we aren’t always going to be there. Happy may be the one to hear him say his first word. Bruce might watch him take his first step. It kills me too.”

“Clint will probably do something to cause his first tooth to fall out,” Tony chuckled. 

“But we will be there for other things. You just can’t get jealous, or at least hide the jealousy,” Steve tried. 

Tony frowned at him. “And are you going to be jealous the first time he asks Natasha to help him with a drawing? Or when he asks Thor to help him ride his bike?”

Steve grimaced at the idea. “Yes, I’ll be jealous but I’ll hide it. And then I’ll complain to you.” 

“I guess we just have to accept that he has a big family,” Tony murmured, watching James fall asleep in his arms. 

~*~

Three weeks after James was born and Tony was starting to go a little stir crazy. James had yet to leave the tower, even his pediatrician had simply been flown over. He made sure to take his suit out for flight tests but leaving without James made him a little anxious and he always returned within an hour. 

They had finally settled on dinner out at a local restaurant with the team. Nobody would bother them with everyone around. 

On the way down to the lobby of the tower the team was ominously silent, acting as if they were preparing for a mission and not dinner. Clint had his bow and quiver stowed in a bag while Tony carried the briefcase suit. Steve had left his shield, instead carrying the baby seat with infant in tow. Thor couldn’t be convinced to leave Mjolinir but had at least worn civilian clothes. Bruce looked twitchy but was trying to at least appear calm. Natasha was always armed and looked ominous. Phil looked the calmest of the group, idly tapping away on his phone. James was by far the most excited, waving a corner of his blanket around and chewing his other fist. 

They exited quickly, forming a hard barrier to surround Steve and the carrier. Reporters shouted and cameras filmed and clicked away as they entered the limousine. 

“Where are you going?” they shouted over and over again. Steve installed the carrier and buckling the seat belt. 

“How do you like your first car ride?” Tony asked James. The little boy’s eyes were wide as the car began to move. He held his blanket up again, kicking his legs. “I think that means he likes it.” 

The limousine slowed down outside of the swank restaurant, pulling to a stop. They exited quickly, forming another barrier as Steve carried James once more. The restaurant was set up and they found the adequate corner, they set the carrier down on the bench seat with Tony and Steve on either side. 

The restaurant manager came over as they settled themselves down into chairs, looking a bit flustered. “Mr. Stark, when I heard your company was setting a reservation here I thought it would be for some of your employees. It’s an honor to have you all here and you brought young Mr. Stark.”

“Yes, can we get some drinks?” Tony began. The others called out their drink orders. 

“Of course, anything I can get, young Mr. Stark?” 

Tony shook his head. “He’s fine.”

They all got their drink and Tony had put James on his lap. “A toast?” Bruce offered. “Let’s celebrate, James’ first dinner out and the many to come.”

“Here, here!” Clint called, tapping drinks together. “Cheers!”

They had dinner, watching James as he watched them back; the little boy always seemed to be staring around. The spoon that Clint held in front of his face riveted him. He couldn’t yet coordinate reaching out and grabbing it yet though. His hands flailing in the attempt. They rotate who held him while they ate, watching him squirm and wriggle. 

Steve looked at the whip cream on top of his ice cream. “Bruce, is there any problem letting him having a bit of the whip cream?”

Bruce shrugged, “A taste won’t hurt him.”

Steve dipped his finger in the whipped cream and pushed it up to James’ lips. The baby got excited at the taste, grasping Steve’s finger and kicking his legs, smiling around his finger. 

“He’s chewing on me,” Steve laughed, trying to keep the little boy from sliding off his lap. “He really likes that.”

Later that night, all hell broke loose. Tony was in his workshop after Steve had gone to bed. He had been asking for an update on James when Jarvis had changed his tone suddenly. 

“Avengers Assemble!” came over the broadcast line. 

Tony grabbed the bracelets for the Mark VIII suit. “Jarvis, call Happy!”

“He’s in the elevator on the way up, Sir,” Jarvis answered. “Young Master Stark is still sleeping and his room is in lock-down. Implemented procedures are in place.”

“Get me into S.H.I.E.L.D. communication,” he said as his helmet closed over his head. “Send Steve a message, tell him that James is fine and Happy is there.”

When Jarvis connected him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. communicators he could hear most of the team already talking and moving to the quinjet. 

“Iron Man online,” he said over the lines. “What are we looking at?”

Steve stopped him. “You’re sure Happy has James?”

Happy’s voice came in through their private line. “He’s just fine guys. Sleeping like a baby, pun intended.”

“What are we looking at Agent Coulson?” Captain America said, taking a seat as Hawkeye took off. 

~*~

“Who saw a mechanical gopher coming?” Iron Man asked as they rode back to New York together. 

No one raised their hands, exhausted from the 8-hour fight. It had been nearly impossible to kill off the gopher and it’s smaller counterparts, underground was not their common fighting venue. 

Finally, Thor had managed to do a Pinocchio on it and caused a fire that made the gopher snap in half. Hawkeye, Captain America, and Iron Man had proceeded to comb the ground beneath Washington D.C. blasting apart and generally destroying any remaining littler gophers. They hadn’t found the perpetrator but it had Dr. Doom written all over it. 

They weren’t even landing the plane before Iron Man leapt out, Captain America in his arms. 

“James all right, Jarv?” Tony asked as the suit came undone. Stupid Captain America didn’t need to remove his suit and was already walking quickly down the stairs to James’ room. 

“Just fine, sir. A bit fussy but Mr. Hogan believes it’s because not enough people have been visiting him today. I do believe Master James is a bit needful of attention.” The “just like his father” was left unsaid by the AI.

“Ha. Ha, Jarv For that, I’m going to make you do Stark Industries customer service for a day.”

“I look forward to the challenge, sir,” Jarvis came back. 

He was at the door to James’ room by then but froze on the outside of the closed door. “You sure he’s fine?” he asked. “All the procedures went okay? Lock down? Happy got in? His milk was there?”

“Everything is fine, sir. Captain Rogers is waiting for you.”

Tony pushed for the door to open then, smiling when he saw Happy and Steve conversing over a sleeping James. 

“Everything, all right?” he questioned, taking James and running a silent hand over him. 

Happy nodded. “He was fine. He ate about two hours ago, after we enjoyed an hour of the Bubble-Guppies. He read a book this morning, with my assistance, and he’s also now up to date on his Car and Driver magazine for this month. He’s a cute little guy.”

“Take the day off, Hap. Thanks for watching him and being willing to be locked in a room with a potentially screaming baby.” Tony smiled, trying to play off how thankful he was. 

“Thanks, boss. And call me if you need me back… You know… acid meatballs start falling from the sky or something. You know that I’m honored that you’ll trust me to watch your kid.”

Happy nodded his goodbye, as Steve added his thanks. 

~*~

Steve went through the series of shots they had taken as baby photos. While Steve went through them he considered the idea of taking up photography, some of these images were nothing short of magical. He would never admit it but he was secretly pleased with the shot Tony had suggested. 

They had taken his shield and using a blanket to soften it, had placed James inside, his tiny hand resting on one of the straps. Another shot had the shield turned over with James curled up on top, asleep. He was going to have that one placed in their room. Another of his favorites was of James lying curled around Tony’s arc reactor, his tiny hand stretched across the blue light. He had been scared to take the next photo; he had had to balance James in one palm. James’ head on his fingertips and his feet wrapped around his own thick wrist. 

He also loved the photo of both he and Tony kissing James cheeks, James sparkling blue eyes looking at the camera. Tony had been embarrassed at first but even he couldn’t argue with the results. As Steve looked at another photo he was starting to think that he just loved any photo with James in it. 

Tony’s favorite photo was of James asleep in Steve’s old helmet, the one from a USO girl. He had to admit that it was cute.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here comes the angst that I just can't help. :)

One night during dinner, Clint pulled a cake out of the refrigerator. In slightly sloppy handwriting it said, “Happy One Month, James!” 

“Oh yeah, today’s his one month,” Steve said with a laugh. James had changed so much in that month that it felt like longer to Steve. His head was more stable on his shoulders; he spent more time awake, and was eating a lot more. Tony was sure he was capable of understanding them. 

“He totally blinks in Morse code!” he had argued just last week. “I made a recording for him for use in utero. He totally picked it up!” Steve thought Tony was sleep deprived. 

Steve whipped out his new camera, the best DSLR on the market. He had taken to leaving it in central areas to keep pictures of James. He snapped photos of James sitting on Clint’s lap in front of the cake and smiled as everyone tried to get James to blow out the candles, unsurprisingly Thor offered to do it for him. 

~*~

It all happened so quickly, only a few days after James’ one-month of life party. Steve had taken James (and Clint) out for a walk around New York, and Steve regretted every action he had taken after that point. There had been the milling reporters outside the tower as they returned but they ignored it as they made their way inside, but from down the block, a woman screamed. Steve turned instinctively but held back with James in his arms. He stood to look over the crowd, stepping closer. 

He heard a quiet ‘whump’ sound and felt a light mist descend on him and the crowd around him. “Take James inside,” he had ordered Clint, settling the sling into his strong arms. Clint had left and he had taken off. 

“It was that man. He had a cannon! And something came out!” she cried, pointing out a man in the distance. 

The man she was speaking about was carrying a large duffle bag and running far and fast. Steve was on him in seconds, hauling him back towards the tower and the police car stationed outside. 

“What was in that thing?” he asked. 

The kid, he couldn’t be more than twenty, shrugged. “I don’t know. I swear. Some guy paid me to set it off. Said it was gag, like glitter bombing.” The boy was thin and sick looking. 

Steve didn’t know what ‘glitter bombing’ was but he assumed it involved glitter and that, clearly, was not glitter. 

He pushed the kid towards the waiting officers. 

“Thank you, Captain. We will take it from here.” They pushed the kid in the backseat and slammed the door. “We can contact you for further statements if this proceeds?”

“Of course,” Steve nodded, shaking the hands of the officers while cameras flashed. He pushed his way back inside to the waiting Clint. 

Steve looked around the lower lobby. “Jarvis? Where is Clint?”

“Agent Coulson felt it prudent to take Master James upstairs to decontaminate. They are in one of the workshop decontamination shower areas.”

The blonde nodded, wishing he had thought of that, and asked for a spare Avenger to fetch clothes for Clint, James, and himself. Phil had a naked James in the sink near the shower while another shower ran, Clint presumably inside. Steve thanked Phil before stepping to scrub off himself.

Bruce showed up a few minutes later with a pile of clothes and a sample kit. An hour later, all were freshly scrubbed and cooking dinner when James began to cry, loudly. It unnerved Tony and Steve as they tried to give him a bottle. 

“Sir, his temperature has been steadily creeping up for the past half-hour and he is now moving past 99.6° Fahrenheit.” Tony frowned and put in a call to their pediatrician. 

Natasha and Thor came in then. “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Don’t know, he’s unhappy,” Tony muttered. 

Thor looked unconvinced. “But he does not cry like that, even when he is at his hungriest.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Thor, I’ve got people on it!” Tony snapped at him, rocking a screaming James.

Steve held up a hand. “Let’s just calm down. We have a doctor coming over right now. Is there anything else we can do?” 

Clint looked skeptical. “Let’s check and see if maybe he’s got a cut or scratch or something. I remember a kid when I was in fosters that was crying a lot because someone had pinned the diaper to him, hurt like hell and the baby was pissed.”

Tony raised and eyebrow but gave it a shot, taking off James’ onesie. Tony felt a blister on the back of James’ neck, holding him so that Steve and the rest of the team could look. Bruce got called up to come look too. 

“A rash,” Bruce confirmed. “That stuff, in the air, it may have irritated his skin. Tell the doctor to come quicker.”

Jarvis put in another call and the doctor promised he was thirty minutes out. 

“Uh, guys?” Clint said a few minutes later, holding out his bare arms. They were red and hives had begun to form. “They itch like hell, no wonder he’s screaming.”

They examined James more closely, his skin was red too but they weren’t sure if it was flushed from the crying or a rash. Steve also had a light rash they noticed, looking close, across the back of his hands and over his cheeks. 

Phil put in a call to the police, informing them to keep an eye on the kid and the officers that had been on sight. He also sent a media blast, alerting the media to announce and alert any of their employees that might have been outside. 

When the coughing started, even Bruce began to panic a little. James coughed between his crying jags, screaming before subsiding to a cough. Clint’s cough was slower and deeper but it came along as the doctor arrived. 

“We need to get them to S.H.I.E.L.D. now. They are having a severe allergic reaction,” the man said quickly. “Do you have oxygen on site?”

Bruce nodded and ran to get it. 

They were on the quinjet when Bruce stepped back on board, holding a facemask over James. Clint used the onboard oxygen, as Tony took them into the air. It took them too long to land again. 

Tony had never been so grateful to see S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and medical officers as he was at that moment. The medical team was swarming the landing pad, like little green and white ants.

They took James and put him on a gurney rolling him towards the entry, Clint stumbling along behind him. Tony and Steve jogged to keep up as they began to speak “Medical Doctor,” he wished he had paid attention better during anatomy and biology. Bruce seemed to understand what they were saying and he looked towards Bruce for translation.

“He’s having a severe allergic reaction, they need to get him some epinephrine and oxygen to stabilize. I’m running my tests back in my lab and when I have the results I can forward them and they can solve the allergy. Until then, they will stabilize him.”

“Jarvis, get those results,” Tony said into his phone. 

“On it, sir,” Jarvis answered, seemingly pre-occupied. 

Tony and Steve cringed as the nurse inserted a needle into his arm, forcing his arm straight with a brace so the IV wouldn’t come out. 

James’ cries were muffled by the mask over his face but it didn’t make Tony or Steve feel any better. He whimpered and kicked, slowly killing his fathers. Steve was sat at the edge of the gurney as they waited for test results, James’ fever creeping higher by the minute. 

“If I had just not taken him for a walk, if I had taken him inside rather than chase that kid down…” Steve had regretted few things more than not rushing James inside. 

“Blame the dumbass that did this to our kid, not yourself.” Tony reprimanded. 

“I should go check on Clint,” Steve said. Phil had been darting from one room to the other but neither man had been able to drag themselves away from James. 

“You go check on him, I’ll stay with James, then we’ll switch,” Tony said. 

Steve nodded. He placed a hand on James’ belly trying to soothe the boy before leaving again. 

Clint was laid in bed, reluctantly curled up as he coughed.

“How are you feeling, Clint?” Steve asked. 

“I’ll be fine, you need…” he paused to cough. “To be with James.”

Steve nodded. “I just wanted to see how you are doing. I’m going to go back and sit with James. Call me if you need anything.”

Phil came in then, an anxious look on his face, his normally calm face pinched tight. “I got a call. The kid, the one you caught outside with the powder. He’s dead. He died at the hospital ten minutes ago, anaphylaxis. The doctors did all they could but it’s very resistant to epinephrine. All the media crews and the officers that were there are in the hospital too. Some of them aren’t doing so well.”

Steve looked at Clint, anxiety shooting through him. “I’ll be fine,” the archer repeated. “Go take care of James.”

~*~

It was a long night for the residents of S.H.I.E.L.D. medical. The coughing had worsened throughout the night. Clint retained consciousness by his fingertips, muttering and coughing continually. James’ body simply shook as he coughed in his sleep, unable to sleep long or hard. The little boy was upset beyond all consolation, occasionally either Tony or Steve’s voice would soothe him to sleep only for him to awaken twenty minutes later, resuming his coughing. The epenhrine could only do so much and soon it would begin to be useless. 

A press conference had been called, an attempt to find out who the terrorist was, hoping for a clue to the cure. Bruce was still anxiously awaiting his results on his samples but could do nothing in the interim. 

Tony and Steve turned on the morning news, hoping to see some progress that they hadn’t heard about. 

The mayor of New York took the microphone. “A child, an infant, was attacked. For no other reason, than because of his parentage. He is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life. This took place on our streets, in front of our officers, in front of our heroes. This depravity cannot go unanswered. We must stand up and draw our line. Behind that line stands our children, the weak, and the ones unable to stand up for themselves. We, as the citizens of New York, must defend that line. I will defend that line.”

Pepper stepped to the podium then. “Thank you, Mayor. This is true. James Stark is currently very ill and fighting for his life this morning, following the attack on him and his father and uncle yesterday afternoon. If anyone has any clues about what this is that has infected him and the other victims, please step forward.” She was quiet then, forcibly retaining her calm. “He is one month old, he doesn’t deserve this, none of them do. Thank you.”

Tony clicked off the TV as the police chief took over, directing people to the tip lines. 

Phil came in then, looking drained. He shook his head at their wordless question. There were no more answers. The boy had died and his employer’s identity with him.

“Food,” he said, dropping a bag in front of them. “Clint’s hanging in there,” he told them before they asked. 

It was a long hour before Jarvis’s anxious voice piped over the line; Tony had refused to turn off. “Dr. Banner has results,” he said as Bruce came through the door, staring a hole in his StarkPad. 

“It’s a sophisticated allergen,” he began. “I’ve sent the results to the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices. It’s in his bloodstream so it will keep re-infecting. They inhaled it and even a de-con shower would only have cleared away the extra. This is a watch and wait allergen. White-blood cells should fight it off but if they can’t hang on long enough for their body to do its job… It’s an attack on the ones with compromised immune systems, like James. He has a weak immune system, all infants do.” 

“So what are you saying? Give him time?” Steve asked. 

Bruce nodded. “What I’m saying is he needs time. Whether his body can hold out long enough is the question. It will take 3 to 5 days for his system to really put it out. I…He…”

“He may not last that long,” finished Dr. John. 

“There has to be something we can do!” Tony all but screamed. “An immune booster? A… something?” he said desperately. 

Steve ran his hands through his hair; James was going downhill and fast.

“I have messages out to every doctor I know that would have an idea, if they know something, they’ll get back to me,” Bruce said. 

“Nanonites? What they used on Coulson?” Tony asked. 

Dr. John raised a brow but another doctor of S.H.I.E.L.D. shook her head. “They are built to repair tissue, not act as white blood cells. It’s a development we are working on but aren’t even close to finalizing.”

“Throw me those schematics, I can…” Tony said eagerly. 

“No offense, Mr. Stark. I’m sure you could do it but James doesn’t have the time you would need.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Complete medical inaccuracies abound but I do not care. 
> 
> I do what I want.
> 
> That is all.

“Give me the schematics, now,” Tony growled, ready to kill.

Bruce’s phone rang then. He pulled it out and flipped it open. “Dr. McCoy…” he said, stepping out of the room. 

“Did he get Dr. Henry McCoy?” Dr. John asked. 

Tony shrugged; too busy peeling the S.H.I.E.L.D. systems for nanonite information. 

Phil peaked his head in the door before sliding in, looking grim. He didn’t acknowledge the others in the room, walking straight to James and looking the little boy over. 

Bruce came back in a few seconds later, looking a little deranged in his eagerness. “I have a lead but I need clearance for Dr. Henry McCoy of the X-Men to enter S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“You have it,” Phil said without hesitation. 

“He’ll be arriving by Blackbird in thirty minutes, he’ll have the Wolverine with him.”

Phil nodded and Agent Coulson took over, snarling into his phone about clearance and not shooting at the arriving jet. 

Tony carefully maneuvered a sleepy James into his arms, hoping to soothe the boy while Steve held James’ hand in his own. 

They gave him another shot of epinherine and his breathing relaxed once more, falling into a light sleep. 

“Dr. McCoy is two minutes out,” Phil said. 

“I’ll go escort him down,” Steve offered. He gave Tony and James a kiss before leaving, following in Bruce’s wake. 

On the elevator ride, Bruce quickly explained that Dr. McCoy was like Bruce, a victim of another experiment gone wrong and he looked a bit odd. They didn’t get any further before they were stepping onto the landing pad. 

What Steve did not expect when he stepped onto the roof was a military grade jet hovering overhead. The door of the jet opened overhead and Steve watched as something, he wasn’t quite sure, landed the forty-foot jump to the helipad. Seconds later, a much smaller body landed beside the other person. They approached quickly and the lights suddenly brought them into focus. 

Steve realized that “The Beast” as a codename was much more apt than he anticipated. The man striding towards him was nearly as tall as him but broader by leaps and bounds, easily 350 pounds of muscle. What stood out the most was his pelt of blue fur and bright yellow eyes. Steve was awestruck for a moment and thankful that Bruce was stepping forward to introduce himself. 

“Shall we see James?” Dr. McCoy asked, eager. 

In the stark light of S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve examined both of the occupants of the room and met the head on stare of Dr. McCoy’s companion.

“Have we met?” Steve asked after a second, as the doctors spoke quickly in a jargon that Steve didn’t pretend to understand. 

The shorter man shrugged, “Maybe.”

Before he could ask for clarification, the door was opening and they were rushing to James’ room. 

“Up your dosage of Albuterol to the inhalant, whatever you have for asthma. He’s going to need it,” McCoy said instantly, sitting besides James. 

Dr. McCoy looked towards Tony, and held out his hands. “May I?”

Tony looked to Bruce then to Steve, both nodded and Tony laid his son gingerly in Beast’s clawed hands. 

“I’ve seen his samples,” he began with Bruce. “And I concur, I don’t know if he’ll hold out.” He spent what felt like an eternity to Tony examining the little boy and listening to his chest.

After a while, looking through his charts and speaking with Bruce, Dr. McCoy turned back to Steve and Tony. 

“I agree with Dr. Banner,” he began solemnly. “James could make it, it’s possible but the odds aren’t great. It’s a twenty percent chance, of him pulling through, hale and whole. A forty-percent chance with a long-term medical issue, brain damage from lack of oxygen, etc. He needs more white-blood cells.”

“I know that!” Tony shouted, disturbing James. He absently calmed the boy, lowering his face. 

Steve stepped in. “We know that he needs more time. What I need is how do we get more WBC? What can be done?”

“That’s why I brought along Logan but you, Captain, may be what we need,” Henry began. “A blood donation, removing James’ blood and replacing it, may boost his immune system enough to fight the infection. Your own serum has been fighting off the infection. James’ isn’t strong enough. Logan is gifted with a healing factor and it works in much the same way.”

“Then let’s do that, Dr. McCoy,” Steve said instantly. “You can have whatever he needs.”

“Please, call me Hank. And it’s none so simple. Logan’s gift may not work on a pure human. We’ve used it sparingly with mutants injured beyond repair and only on physical injuries. It doesn’t always work. To be completely honest, I’m only partially sure of how it works and Logan is not fond of my laboratory.”

Logan snorted. “You got that right.”

“Your own white blood cells may also be ineffective or it could have adverse effects, Captain. James may be too weak. It could mutate his cells. Your system recreates the serum constantly and it would be in the blood. The serum has never been tested on a child. And as we all know, the serum and its effects don’t always end well.” The group couldn’t help but collectively look at a grim-faced Dr. Banner. 

Tony ran his hands through his hair almost frantically, if it was his life, he would’ve made a decision already but James was his son. How could he make a decision that could possibly end his child’s life? He looked over at Steve, noting the frustration and fear that he didn’t try to hide on his own face. 

Steve ran a hand through James’ hair, making it stick up wildly. The boy’s blue eyes blinked open, staring into his own, tired and yet too tired to kick up a fuss about it. 

“There’s no test you can run? Something to tell us possible results? Small scale isn’t my style but in this case…” Tony questioned.

Hank nodded. “I can but it won’t give me full reaction, I can see how it will react to the infective agent but when it’s actually in his heart, his system. I wish we had the time to do this on a small scale but we just don’t have it. An allergy, an infection like this, gives us no time.”

Tony nodded, uncertain.

“If this were your child, your son, what would you do, Hank?” Steve asked, right to the heart of the matter. 

Hank cleaned his glasses. “I would give him your blood, Captain. You’re human, super-human sure, but it’s closer. The effects of the serum could hurt him but it’s less likely to kill him. Logan’s blood could destroy the pathogen but as your WBCs have just worked on it they may be more “prepared” as it were. Logan’s blood could be ineffective and simply strip a few precious hours from us. I would reserve Logan for a back up, in case yours fell through. By my estimates, yours runs a fifty-five percent chance of succeeding. Logan’s holds a thirty percent chance.” 

“Bruce, as this is your nephew, what would you do?” Steve asked.

Bruce was solemn but added his voice to Hank’s. “I agree, Captain. You’re blood is the best bet.”

The billionaire nodded, steeling himself, “Can we have a moment?” 

The room got a lot quieter as the only sound became the low-quiet beeping of James’ heart monitor. 

“I can’t do this,” Steve started. “I can’t. He’s my boy. He’s my bubba.”

Tony sat on the other side of the gurney, grasping Steve’s hand in his own. “I know. I know how bad this is. I think, sometimes we just need to hook ourselves up to a car battery… Or have a crazy German stick a bunch of needles in us and hope for the best.”

Steve nodded, “That was the craziest and yet best decision of my life. It was also desperate and I think we are getting to that point.” James drove that point home with a few gasping coughs. 

They called the others back in and told them their decision. 

That was how Steve found himself seated on a gurney, with a large bore needle in his arm. They had also wheeled a large machine that Coulson had shuddered at upon sight. His blood was gathered and attached into a second machine. While James was hooked up with wires and IV lines, enough to confuse, which went where. 

The door opened and the other Avengers plus Pepper and Coulson walked in, or rolled in, in Clint’s case. He was sitting disgruntledly in a wheel chair pushed by a solemn Thor. 

Nobody dared to mention that this could be the last time they saw James’ alive. They each took a moment to place a gentle hand on James; Natasha whispered a few words in his ear. Coulson was straight faced as he tickled a few of James’ toes. Thor tapped his forehead as he had on the day of his birth, whispering. Clint took one of James’ fists, hidden by gauze and bumped it against his own, playing with his tiny fingers. Pepper was more open, her face dry but the moisture was gathered. They had heard the odds. 

“He’s defied the odds once. He shouldn’t have been able to beat a condom and the pill but he did,” Tony said, in a pathetic attempt at a joke.

“He’s something else,” a wheezy Clint added. 

They waited until everyone shuffled back out before finishing setting up. Tony studiously refused to look at the hidden defibulator, it was underneath a sheet but the shape was all too obvious to Tony, he didn’t point it out to Steve. They gave James one last shot of epinephrine before turning on the machine. Nothing happened as the machine turned to life. 

Steve knew Tony wasn’t religious but he took Tony’s hand in his anyway, a quiet voice starting a prayer. “Dear Lord…” he began.

~*~

The residents of the tower were gathered inside Clint’s room. They knew the havoc this had ravaged on a full-grown healthy man like Clint and could only imagine the issues it was causing in a tiny person like James. 

They were waiting in ominous silence, the low hiss of Clint’s oxygen tank and the beep of his monitors were the only noise. 

“He’ll be fine,” Clint said to the gathered people. Whether he was trying to reassure them or himself they didn’t know. 

~*~

Hours later, Tony was sure they should’ve seen some progress by now but they didn’t know. They were stuck in what Hank called the “few precious hours.” James coughing had worsened as the epinherine began to fail and his fever maintained. He could feel himself starting to fall apart at the seams. He could manage to stay up for nearly a week working on a project but two days with James had drained him beyond all realms. A part of him wanted to sleep so badly but another part felt that if he closed his eyes for even a minute, James would start to fall. 

Steve, despite the SSS, was starting to look run down too. Even his appetite had dropped off and Tony was starting to worry. 

Hank and Bruce were taking small samples of blood every half hour, putting them on slides and conferring. 

Suddenly James’ heart rate picked up, beeping quickly. Tony stood, Steve standing at his side. 

“What’s happening?” Steve asked, urgently

Dr. McCoy already had a stethoscope pressed to James’ chest. One hand examining the printouts from the monitor. “I don’t know,” Hank said honestly. 

The boy let out a loud cry, harsh wracking sobs that shook him. Steve and Tony were desperate, unable to look away. He was sweating a little and his heart rate continued to click along, too fast. Hank called to the nurses in the hallway. 

“Get ready to defib,” Hank told Dr. John as he rushed in.

After what felt like an hour but was only a minute, James’ heart began to slow, returning to a steady beep. The boy took a deep breath and he sighed, seeming to fall into a deep sleep. 

“Is he okay?” Logan asked, as the silence extended. 

“Sample, Dr. Banner,” Hank said. Bruce took another sample and rushed to the stethoscope. 

The silence was there for along moment before Bruce piped up. “There are indications that the serum is finally at work. I’ll need a centrifuge to be certain.”

Hank shook his head. “Later, for now we need to stay braced.”

~*~

Pepper watched her phone like a hawk, one hand resting in Happy’s as they waited in anxiety. Her phone beeped with a text message.

Tony: SSS may b wrking.  
Me: How long?  
Tony: IDK. Don’t get hope up.

“Tony says the SSS might be working. They don’t know.” Pepper didn’t know if she should have told them but they would want to know. 

The sigh of breath from the room was quiet, not ready to relax.

~*~

Another hour later, Bruce and Hank had double and triple checked their results. The SSS was still present but the pathogen was nearly gone. It wasn’t as fast as Steve’s body but it was working. James’ coughing was quieting and it would take a few more hours to a day for it to be completely gone, the inflammation had been bad. 

They had turned off the modified plasmapheresis machine cautiously, watching the monitors. After another few minutes they took off his oxygen mask, instead putting him in an incubator with an NG tube. 

“He needs to catch up on food intake,” Hank explained, “He can’t afford to lose the weight he has gained.”

Steve hated seeing his son curled up in a tiny box. It was only slightly better than having him on that huge gurney, reminding them how tiny he truly was. 

He sent a text message.  
Me: He’s getting better. SSS is working, putting him in the incubator.  
Phil Coulson: Good news. How long?  
Me: Unknown.

~*~

Phil updated them, his arm resting along Clint’s shoulders. The man was finally asleep after battling to stay awake for hours. He was not off oxygen but his rash was steadily disappearing. 

“So he’ll be fine?” Clint asked sleepily. 

“They think so,” Phil answered. “Go back to sleep.”

Clint buried his face in Coulson’s suit jacket before falling asleep again. 

~*~

The next morning, Steve was slumped against the incubator while Tony slept in the rocking chair, next to it. The billionaire had finally passed out after promises to wake him if James’ status changed at all. 

When he looked into the incubator again, James looked back at him. His light blue eyes seemed to have a darker hue, a deeper blue than before. 

“Can I take him out?” he asked a sleepy Dr. McCoy. 

Hank nodded, “Sure, let me take his NG tube out.”

A moment later he had James in his arms once more, the little boy smiled up at him, nuzzling Steve’s bare throat. 

Tony woke with a start, his eyes shooting to the incubator, panicking for a second before he saw James in Steve’s arms. He sighed. Tony patted James’ head. 

“Are his eyes different?” Tony asked after a minute.

Steve looked closer at James. “You noticed too? I thought it was just me.”

“Mm. No. I’ll have Bruce come in.”

Hank and Bruce agreed with them. “Clint would be the one to ask, his eyesight would pick up the changes better than ours,” Bruce added.

“Do you think it’s a problem?” Tony asked. 

Hank shook his head. “He’s making eye contact, as much as is appropriate for his age. He’s able to judge distances. According to the standard tests, his eyes are fine.”

Phil was the first to come into the room after James had recovered, under the pretense of being the liaison to the Avenger. He spent less time talking to the actual Avengers, rather visiting with their infant son. 

The others were bid entrance later in the day, making small talk and looking over James. Clint hadn’t come in until later and they had made a point of telling the others not to mention James’ eyes, all the others had noticed his light blue eyes turning into a cerulean blue. 

Clint had rolled up to James’ incubator, staying puzzled for a moment before reaching for Steve’s chin. “Let me see something,” he said without explanation. He stared into Steve’s then stared at James’ eyes. He finally muttered, “Creepy but cool.”

“What?” Tony asked anxiously. 

“That eye color, that’s exactly Steve’s eye color, it’s a little creepy,” Clint told them honestly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Steve (in some story lines) met during WWII. 
> 
> Kudos to those that spot the little crossover references.


	12. Chapter 12

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You’re not…” He grabbed Steve’s chin too, looking closely between the two. “Well, damn.”

“What? Is he right?” Steve asked. 

Clint frowned. “Of course, I am.”

“Well, that’s… that’s a gas.”

After that, all the Avengers made a point of showing up to look at James’ eyes, and examine Steve’s. Steve would never admit that staring into Natasha’s hard eyes had startled him but he had held her gaze anyway. 

Pepper brought her camera up to snap a picture of James and his doting parents. “I’m going to Tweet this for you, the media should pick it up fairly quickly. I recommend that you take a break in Malibu for a few weeks. I’ve taken the liberty of having Happy pack up James’ crib. I will remind you that Halloween is coming up soon, the media will expect a costume for James.”

“I don’t care what the media expects any more, Pep,” Tony said exasperated. 

She nodded. “Exactly and a break from the spotlight will only help. If the others would like to come to Malibu too there’s more than enough room.”

Steve frowned. He liked New York but he had to agree, they needed a break, the anniversary of the New York incident was coming soon and they had been run ragged the past few weeks. Asking for a few weeks of leave wouldn’t be unlikely. 

Steve made a call that Tony never would. “Hi, Dr. Richards!”

“Captain Rogers, a pleasure!” Dr. Reed Richards, of the Fantastic Four appeared on screen. “And call me Reed, we fought Dr. Doom together a few months back I think we are on a first name basis. How’s James?” 

“Recovering and call me Steve.”

Dr. Richards looked genuinely pleased. “Thanks, I just… I was horrified. Thinking that anyone could do that to James, they could do that to my Franklin. He’s bouncing back then? How’s Tony?”

Steve smiled sadly. “About as well as you would be doing if you had been in the same situation, I imagine.”

He grimaced. “And I can’t imagine you are doing any better.” 

“No. Tony and I will be leaving for Malibu for a few weeks. We just need some time. The rest of the Avengers may follow us. We can be here in a few hours with a call but…”

“Don’t call unless it’s Loki?” Susan Storm-Richards guessed, stepping in screen. “Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“No problem, Mrs. Richards,” Steve said, turning a smile on her. 

She blushed. “It’s Susan, Steve. And we won’t call unless it’s big. I think we can manage the normal things, plus with Spiderman and the X-men we should be all set.” 

“Great, that’s really great. We just need some down time,” Steve promised. 

Susan nodded. “Of course. Give James, Tony, and the rest our best. Send us a message when you get James home. We’ve been paranoid that someone’s going to attack while you guys were in the hospital so we’ve been making Johnny do laps to keep people aware that we’re paying attention. I didn’t want you guys to have to decide between staying with James or fighting.”

“Thanks for that. We’ll send you a message when we are settled.” Steve said his goodbyes. 

“Cheating on me with Richards,” Tony muttered, glaring. 

Steve rolled his eyes; Tony had a love-hate relationship with the other genius scientist. He wasn’t sure why, he loved Bruce and seemed to get on with Dr. McCoy. 

“He’s not my type,” Steve refuted. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Why not? He’s not rich but you don’t care about that. Other than that he’s a tall, black-haired, mild-genius, scientist, with superhero friends.”

Steve wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist, pulling him close. “Well, then,” he began slowly, looking deep into his eyes, “it’s good that I love my black-haired, genius, scientists, short.”

He laughed when Tony stomped on his foot and stormed away. “I’m sorry! You’re really tall,” he called, still chuckling.

“Go F yourself, Rogers!” Tony yelled, heading back into James’ room. 

“I’m just pulling your leg,” he said, following in Tony’s wake. 

~*~

“And you’re sure, he’s fine?” they asked of both Dr. McCoy and Dr. John. 

“As I said, the first time and I’ll say it the twentieth, if there were any indications that he was still unwell, I wouldn’t let him leave,” the furry-blue scientist answered. “I understand, this is the first time he’s been ill and you’re nervous but he is fine. Put a call into Dr. John and myself if anything seems off. And I do mean anything. Morning, noon, or night, I do not keep conventional hours.”

They had spent three days in the hospital with James before they had been given the all clear. The other Avengers had spent the time packing a few things, and in Phil’s case, negotiating for time out of the office. 

When they boarded Tony’s jet for Malibu there was a sigh of relief. James was passed around from aunt to uncles while they flew, keeping the little boy entertained while reassuring themselves that James was, in fact, fine. 

About halfway through Clint’s time to cuddle the little boy, he put a hand under his bottom and felt something wet. 

“Oh, sh… spit. His diaper is leaking. I just got peed on,” Clint grimaced, holding James away from himself. Tony and Steve laughed, not moving to help. 

The little boy started to cry, hands reaching out for Clint. 

“Oh, Clint, you’ve upset him,” Phil said, taking James, a small towel wrapped carefully over his hand.

Clint’s eyes were incredulous. “Upset him? HE peed on ME!”

“Is your Uncle Clint making you cry?” Tony asked, taking the boy to change. 

They landed at a nearby airport and were whisked straight to Tony’s beachfront mansion. 

“Mi casa es mi casa but you can find a room,” he said, as they cruised into the garage, Happy at the wheel. 

He stepped out and was greeted but Dummy, Butterfingers, and You. Pepper had had them flown over earlier in the week. “This floor is mostly workshop, any of my cars are at your disposal but they are not disposable.”

 

“Welcome home, sir,” Jarvis broke in. 

“Hey, Jarv. Is James’ room ready?” Tony asked. 

“Yes, sir. The room is mostly unpacked and Miss Potts will be arriving with clothes for Master James in a moment.”

They made their way to the elevator bank. “The next floor is the gym and pool, then living room, my room, and kitchen. Top floor are guest rooms.”

Tony opened the door on the common area floor. “Main floor. Living room…”

“Gee, look at that view,” Steve started. “We should take James to the beach. Would you like to go to the beach, bubba?”

“Yep, I could live here,” Clint groaned flopping onto the couch. “Yo, Jarvis? Can you throw the Giants game up on the screen?”

“Of course, Clint,” the AI said as the TV flickered to life. 

Tony grumbled. “I had a tour planned,” he said indignantly. 

Steve kissed his cheek. “Let’s let everyone settle, it’s been a bad week.” 

~*~

Tony rolled out of bed when James’ made a noise in his crib, he had been unwilling to leave James alone so he and Steve had compromised. If Tony would sleep, James could be in his crib in their room. He had scooted the crib to the edge of the bed and kept one hand through the bars. He had awoken every time James’ shifted but it was worth it. 

Steve had finally given up on sleep and taken James to the gym for an early morning workout. The boy had eventually been lulled to sleep by the rhythmic ‘thunk thunk’ of the punching bag, eventually he stepped into the shower, putting James’ bouncer just outside the door. He was so thankful for Jarvis at this moment, the AI would alert him to anything, even though James was three feet away. 

He hefted James up and made his way upstairs. The kitchen was occupied, despite the fact that it was half past four in the morning.

Clint was on a counter, slumped against the microwave, while Natasha sipped at her tea.

“There he is,” Clint murmured. “J-man sleep with you guys tonight?”

“Yes, you want to hold him for a few? I’m going to start breakfast.” He didn’t wait for a response and more or less dropped James into Clint’s lap, faith that the archer would secure his son.

Clint lifted James to his shoulder. “Does he need some tummy time?” He swayed unconsciously as a drooling James rooted in his neck. 

Steve nodded. 

Clint was halfway around the counter and to the plush carpet, when he stopped and looked at Steve. “When did this become my life? I used to be a super cool assassin, a sniper of unmatched caliber. Now I’m…”

“Uncle Clint,” Natasha finished for him. “And you were never super cool.”

“You became Uncle Clint at about the same time I became Papa and Iron Man became Daddy. We used to be a superhero team and now we’re a family with pretty sweet jobs. So… pancakes?” he offered.

“Sounds good,” Clint answered, settling James on his belly. 

He cooed at the little boy, moving into a headstand to look at the little boy, his pant legs falling to his knees and his t-shirt sliding.

“Elegant,” Natasha half chuckled, which was as close to a full belly laugh that Natasha ever got. They fried bacon and squeezed fresh orange juice, actually tangelo juice, because Tony did not buy anything normal. 

He ignored James’ grumpy squalls while on his tummy, the boy was as impatient as his daddy and it wouldn’t be long before the boy could muster the strength to crawl and hold himself up there. The boy was smart enough to have figured out that with someone holding him, he could see more. Now he was limited to the direction his head was turned. 

The little boy cried out, soothed when Clint moved back into his view. Eventually the little boy lifted his head, trying to push up, before wobbly turning and giving out again a second later. Clint moved down into a pushup, getting James’ attention before shooting back into a handstand, James’ head following him up. 

“You know, normal people would be worried about a 170 pound man doing a handstand over their child…” Bruce told him as he walked into the kitchen, looking more rumpled than normal. 

“Good thing we’re not normal then,” Clint laughed, trying to get James’ attention back. 

Steve laughed. “Clint won’t fall on the baby. You sleep well?” he asked Bruce. 

Bruce laughed without mirth, “It’s 5 AM and I went to bed at 2 AM. What do you think?” 

“Tea?” Natasha offered, already pouring him a cup from her pot. 

“Thanks.”

~*~

 

Tony looked exhaustedly out through the welding goggles; he flipped down the visor again and welded a few more spots, carefully uniting the metal. 

“Sir…” Jarvis began.

“Mute,” he muttered. 

Jarvis overrode his command, “Sir, you’ve allowed me to override that if needed. Master James requires attention…”

Tony tossed his goggles and was already heading for the door. “Where’s Steve?”

“He put Master James down for a nap and went to the gym. He’s currently training with Agent Coulson and Agent Barton. Judging by the young master’s cries, he sounds hungry.”

Tony nodded, “I’m on it.”

He stepped into James’ room, the child quieting as his dad entered. “Oh, there’s my boy! You’re all alone! Did Papa abandon you?” He scooped James up and went to the kitchen. 

Some days he couldn’t believe how much he loved this little boy. He loved the way he hung on to Tony, how his hands curled around Tony’s fingers, how he curled his legs, and snuggled into Tony’s neck. He was perfect, a perfect little being that wanted him. He had always thought of parenthood as a drain but James ability to exhaust him was mitigated by the way he smiled at Tony, the way he kicked his tiny feet, the way he looked up at him and Steve like they held the world. He was going to enjoy this if it killed him.

Tomorrow was Halloween and Steve and Tony had picked out a costume for James that they felt suited the little boy very well. Tony had had to resist the urge to buy a Captain America costume, he would look so cute but Steve had been mortified. He could only imagine how Bruce would feel. 

~*~

“What do you guys think?” Tony said holding James out to show off his new costume. 

Clint cracked up first with Bruce right behind him. The normally calm man was actually giggling. “Where did you get that?”

“The Internet found it,” Steve said. “Actually the idea came from the Internet but Tony had someone design the costume to fit James.”

Natasha was smirking, “That’s… cute.”

Thor laughed loudly, “’Tis a grand idea for his first autumn festival!”

Phil had a broad grin on his face. 

James was currently dressed as The Hulk, a leaf green lycra long-sleeved top had been sprayed to mimic The Hulk’s muscular chest and ripped arms. He wore a pair of artfully ripped shorts and the green leggings were also made to mimic The Hulk’s legs, even his feet were covered in green toe socks. James’ black hair already matched but now it was styled to stick out from his head to emphasize the wild look the Big Green Rage Machine always pulled off. 

“Fortunately he has a lot of hair, otherwise he would’ve had to make him a hood,” Tony said, holding James on a hip. 

Bruce picked him up carefully and sat him on his lap. He was still a little uncomfortable at the idea that Tony was so comfortable with his child and himself around The Hulk. He was relying on fast instincts to protect the boy should he ever Hulk out. “Did you want to dress up like Uncle Bruce does sometimes?”

Clint reached over and took James’ arms holding them like he was a body builder; he made a high-pitched grunt, growling like the Hulk. “James is angry! Feed James bottle! Give James candy! Grrr.”

“Funny,” Bruce deadpanned. 

“Hold still,” Tony demanded. “I’m Tweeting this!” 

~*~  
Of course, the media and social networking had blown James’ Halloween costume out of proportion. 

“They claim we are endangering our child and that children’s services should come and investigate,” Steve said, striding in with James under one arm and a StarkPad in his hand. 

The image to start the headline was of baby James beside a picture of The Hulk throwing a car, leading to a picture of Bruce holding the boy dressed as The Hulk. Apparently, that was too dangerous. 

“Mm… you know what else is dangerous?” Tony asked, kissing Steve fiercely, ignoring James’ grunt of displeasure. “Letting an extremely strong super soldier hold him and allow that same guy with little sense of the modern world care for him. Also allowing him to live with and be cared for by two assassins that could kill him in a blink. Allowing a Herculean demi-god that enjoys throwing a hammer around to stay in the room next to his. More importantly, allowing his father, a noted sociopath with narcissistic tendencies and access to the most powerful weaponry and dangerous objects known to man to care for him is possibly the stupidest idea ever. If we were smart, we would give him to Coulson, the most responsible man on Earth and be done with it. However dangerous it may be, he will never be safer than with us. We would die before we would allow him to be hurt.”

Steve smiled and kissed Tony back. “Jarvis, can you put out what Tony just said for me? Except don’t say Coulson, say “our handler.”

“Twitter has me limited in the amount of words but I can make it into a photo and Tweet that out for you… Some thing like this?” Jarvis showed an image of Tony’s words typed out, with a photo of all the Avengers at the bottom.

“Perfect. Twitter it!” Steve said.

“Tweet it,” Tony corrected. 

Steve grumbled, “Damn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue to go now!


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of smut, you have been warned.

Steve had a hold on Tony’s hips as he pushed up into the older man, forcing a low groan out of him. He grinned at Tony’s look of debauchment as he straddled Steve. As romantic as Steve could be, some days he really just wanted to have sex. He took one of Tony’s wrists in each of his hands in a careful grip before thrusting powerfully, leaving no recourse. Tony’s body clenched tight before he came unaided across Steve’s belly with Steve right behind him. Both men sank into the bed, ignoring the sweat and exhaustion.

Their baby monitor lit up as James began to cry; it was ten at night. 

“Your son is calling,” Tony chuckled from where he was planted in Steve’s chest. “I have one thing to finish in the workshop and then I’ll meet you here for round two?” He waggled his eyebrows hopefully. 

Steve leaned and gave Tony a deep kiss, a promise to meet him. He pulled on his sleep pants to figure out what James wanted. He had tried to go to bed early but a half naked Tony in the shower had distracted him and now their son was awake again. 

~*~

It was late when Tony dragged himself to bed. Steve and Clint had taken to taking James out with them in a jogging stroller and he had been working on making the jogging strollers as shock absorbent as possible. He admitted it may have gotten out of control with Kevlar reinforcements but he enjoyed it. 

His bedroom was empty, unusual at three in the morning. He followed his instincts down to James’ nursery and he smiled when he could hear Steve’s voice murmuring exhaustedly and James’ distinct quiet cry. 

He looked in and there was Steve, shirtless, his hair mussed and rocking on his feet. He sung, slightly off key, to the tune of Brahm’s “Lullaby”, “Go to sleep. I’m exhausted. I just need to sleep for an hour… Go to sleep. Please, sleep. I spent too long in the gym… I need a bed. I need to sleep. I will give you anything you want… Go to sleep…”

Tony pushed the door open then, “I don’t think that’s how the song goes.”

“I know but if I stop moving or talking he wakes up and starts crying. He spits out his paci, he doesn’t want to be wrapped up, his diaper is clean, his temp is fine. He did this yesterday too. I know the night shift is mine this week but I was just about to call you.” Steve answered. 

“Have you tried feeding him?”

Steve shook his head. “He had a bottle not even two hours ago. His schedule has never needed a bottle at this time.”

Tony went upstairs to find a bottle and was back in a few minutes. “He’s growing, he’s probably just hungry.”

Steve took a seat in the chair and a half, not objecting when Tony squished in beside them. James quieted when he felt the bottle and silenced completely when he realized there was food in the bottle. 

“Oh, thank Heavens! I was about to start crying myself.” Steve leaned his head back on the couch and hummed tunelessly to soothe James to sleep. After a while the little boy finished and spit out the bottle. Tony scooped James’ from Steve’s arms, batting away his clutching fingers. The super soldier was dead asleep but was still trying to hold onto his baby. 

“Oh, baby, you wore your Papa out today. Just wore him out. You wore out a super soldier; even I can’t do that. So, now, it’s time to close your eyes, fall asleep, and wake up just in time for breakfast, okay? Bruce is making waffles.”

James closed his eyes as he was set down in his crib. 

Tony took a seat next to Steve on the couch, closing his eyes as he rested his head on Steve’s shoulder. He’d just lay here a minute before moving upstairs. Just for a few minutes. 

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's actually more stories I'm working on in my little "James Verse" that I hope to post. I hope everyone enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> This story is finished and if anyone is interested I'll post the rest. 
> 
> Again, I have no beta and all mistakes are mine and unintentional. I'm sorry. Polite critique is acceptable.


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